The new Centro Hospitalario Serena del Mar (CHSM), the first hospital designed by Safdie Architects and the firm’s first project to open in Latin America, will provide a critical new resource for Cartagena, Colombia and the Caribbean region.
The hospital anchors the Safdie Architects-designed masterplan for the El Gran Canal civic district within Serena del Mar, a new 2,500-acre city currently in development on the Caribbean coast just north of Cartagena. CHSM is the first public-facing institution to open in the master-planned city, establishing Cartagena’s first full-service medical institution.
The teaching hospital offers comprehensive human-centered medical care and is premised on the notion that access to nature and daylight is vital to creating improved therapeutic experiences for patients, families, and staff. The hospital began a phased open to the public earlier this year with 158 beds. Phase 1 of the hospital comprises approximately 575,870 sf.
CHSM is conceived as a garden hospital overlooking a lake. The design offers patients, staff, and families access to a diverse array of gardens throughout the building including a linear bamboo courtyard, a healing garden associated with cancer treatment, and a series of lakeside gardens connected by a waterfront promenade.
Inpatient facilities are housing in five wings designed with shallow floor plates to maximize the spaces with direct proximity to windows, daylight, and views of the surrounding lake, hills, gardens, and courtyards. Even in areas such as emergency rooms, labs, and clinics, daylight and views to nature are maintained.
When 100% complete, CHSM will service the region with over 400 hospital beds. The completed project will span 753,480-sf of hospital facilities and gardens.
Related Stories
| Jun 16, 2014
6 U.S. cities at the forefront of innovation districts
A new Brookings Institution study records the emergence of “competitive places that are also cool spaces.”
| Jun 12, 2014
Austrian university develops 'inflatable' concrete dome method
Constructing a concrete dome is a costly process, but this may change soon. A team from the Vienna University of Technology has developed a method that allows concrete domes to form with the use of air and steel cables instead of expensive, timber supporting structures.
| Jun 11, 2014
5 ways Herman Miller's new office concept rethinks the traditional workplace
Today's technologies allow us to work anywhere. So why come to an office at all? Herman Miller has an answer.
| Jun 9, 2014
Green Building Initiative launches Green Globes for Sustainable Interiors program
The new program focuses exclusively on the sustainable design and construction of interior spaces in nonresidential buildings and can be pursued by both building owners and individual lessees of commercial spaces.
Smart Buildings | Jun 8, 2014
Big Data: How one city took control of its facility assets with data
Over the past few years, Buffalo has developed a cutting-edge facility management program to ensure it's utilizing its facilities and operations as efficiently, effectively, and sustainably as possible.
| Jun 4, 2014
Emerging trends in healthcare development: neighborhood care, mixed-use models on the rise
In urban and even suburban markets, real estate is about the "live, work, play," with close proximity to mass transit and other amenities, like retail stores. Healthcare organizations are following suit.
| Jun 2, 2014
Parking structures group launches LEED-type program for parking garages
The Green Parking Council, an affiliate of the International Parking Institute, has launched the Green Garage Certification program, the parking industry equivalent of LEED certification.
| May 29, 2014
7 cost-effective ways to make U.S. infrastructure more resilient
Moving critical elements to higher ground and designing for longer lifespans are just some of the ways cities and governments can make infrastructure more resilient to natural disasters and climate change, writes Richard Cavallaro, President of Skanska USA Civil.
| May 23, 2014
Top interior design trends: Gensler, HOK, FXFOWLE, Mancini Duffy weigh in
Tech-friendly furniture, “live walls,” sit-stand desks, and circadian lighting are among the emerging trends identified by leading interior designers.
| May 22, 2014
Big Data meets data centers – What the coming DCIM boom means to owners and Building Teams
The demand for sophisticated facility monitoring solutions has spurred a new market segment—data center infrastructure management (DCIM)—that is likely to impact the way data center projects are planned, designed, built, and operated.
