We are in the midst of preparing for our June issue of HEALTHCARE DESIGN which will focus on international healthcare design projects. There is no denying the amount of work that is taking place around the globe in the healthcare design field. Both developing and developed countries are learning from each other and using best practices to design healthcare facilities that best serve their communities and suit their environments.

There are already many examples of international projects that are blazing a trail in their respective locations in designing hospitals that can not only handle the needs of the patients but also address sustainability, and staff and visitor comfort.

Just to name a couple, the Rigshospitalet, in Copenhagen, Denmark, is undergoing extensive expansion that will include updated operating rooms and a new patient hotel. The architecture team, selected through a design competition, focused on maximizing daylighting with floor to ceiling windows in the patient rooms and windows in the surgery areas. Atriums as well as green roofs and walls designed into the zig-zag-shaped building also promote a healthier environment. With a cityscape that has a mix of modern and historic structures, lead architect 3XN designed a building that would be sensitive and considerate of the surrounding community. 

Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, designed by HDR Inc., is a 360-bed facility that can expand to accommodate 490 beds. Due to be completed 2013; this facility will provide high-level medical care in luxurious and well-appointed surroundings that can accomodate large numbers of visitors and family members. The facility features a high transparency outer skin that has a high heat absorption performance and a cooling mechanism that pushes cooled air through a double skin curtain wall gap.

My colleague, Todd Hutlock, editor-in-chief of HEALTHCARE DESIGN, posted a discussion in our LinkedIn group asking about the US design presence abroad. It has been a very informative conversation that shows no signs of dying away as members who work on projects in other countries weigh in with what the current practices are for their particular regions. There is much information to be gleaned from so many projects here in the USA and internationally.

Do you have comments to share about an international design project?