Currently under construction in Singapore's Jurong Lakeside District, the 1.75 million-sf Ng Teng Fong General Hospital features a vertical garden form that is optimized to reduce solar heat gain and take advantage of prevailing breezes to cool the interior spaces.
The project is actually two hospitals—a private unit that will have traditional air conditioning systems, and a subsidized ward that will rely on natural ventilation in an effort to reduce operations costs.
Despite the region's tropical climate, the design team, led by HOK, CPG Singapore, and studio505, is confident that natural ventilation will provide sufficient cooling for the wing. According to eVolo, the tower's form is designed to act as a funnel, capturing prevailing breezes.
And the floor arrangement is modeled to double the amount of natural ventilation and maximize the cooling effect in areas where occupants spend most of their time.
Every patient room will not only have a window, but one with plans at gardens just feet away.
Related Stories
| Aug 11, 2010
2009 Judging Panel
A Matthew H. Johnson, PE Associate Principal Simpson Gumpertz & HegerWaltham, Mass. B K. Nam Shiu, SE, PEVP Walker Restoration Consultants Elgin, Ill. C David P. Callan, PE, CEM, LEED APSVPEnvironmental Systems DesignChicago D Ken Osmun, PA, DBIA, LEED AP Group President, ConstructionWight & Company Darien, Ill.
| Aug 11, 2010
Inspiring Offices: Office Design That Drives Creativity
Office design has always been linked to productivity—how many workers can be reasonably squeezed into a given space—but why isn’t it more frequently linked to creativity? “In general, I don’t think enough people link the design of space to business outcome,” says Janice Linster, partner with the Minneapolis design firm Studio Hive.
| Aug 11, 2010
BIM school, green school: California's newest high-performance school
Nestled deep in the Napa Valley, the city of American Canyon is one of a number of new communities in Northern California that have experienced tremendous growth in the last five years. Located 42 miles northeast of San Francisco, American Canyon had a population of just over 9,000 in 2000; by 2008, that figure stood at 15,276, with 28% of the population under age 18.