Liu Chen

Niger General Hospital in Niamey by CITIC Architectural Design Institute (CADI) Embraces the Local Context.

Project Title
Niger General Hospital
Location
Niamey, Niger
Area
34 000 sqm
Clients
The Ministry of Commerce of China, Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Niger
Architects
CITIC Architectural Design Institute
Lead Architects
Liu Chen, Xing Bing
Architecture Team
Liu Chen, Xing Bing, Zhu Hailong, Huang Weiwei, Ai Yuewei
Project Manager
Li Xi
Structural Engineer
Nie Qiling, Xiao Wei, Shi Jiliang
Equipment Engineer
Hu Mingdi ,Xie Daopeng ,Liu Bing ,Li Yunzuo ,Yang Zhi ,Liu Rong
Medical Technology
Li Jin
Photography
Liu Chen
Project Details
  • Architects: CADI
  • Location: Niamey, Niger
  • Lead Architects: Liu Chen, Xing Bing
  • Architecture Team: Liu Chen, Xing Bing, Zhu Hailong, Huang Weiwei, Ai Yuewei
  • Area: 34000.0 sqm
  • Project Year: 2016
  • Photographs: Liu Chen
  • Project Maneger: Li Xi
  • Structural Engineer: Nie Qiling, Xiao Wei, Shi Jiliang
  • Equipment Engineer: Hu Mingdi ,Xie Daopeng ,Liu Bing ,Li Yunzuo ,Yang Zhi ,Liu Rong
  • Medical Technology: Li Jin
  • Clients: The Ministry of Commerce of China, Ministry of Public Health of the Republic of Niger

The Niger General Hospital in Niamey is the result of a collaborative effort between the governments of China and Niger. Designed by Liu Chen and Xing Bing of CITIC Architectural Design Institute (CADI), the hospital is located 7 kilometers from the center of Niamey surrounded mostly by Sahara Desertland.

This context and location forms the basis of the design which features exterior walls sprayed with tyrolene (a local  mixture of river sand and white cement) which offers a rough texture, as well as blocks with large cantilevers, perforated walls and sun shading. All of these elements are geared towards ensuring the hospital is able to provide well lit, naturally ventilated spaces that make for an efficient building and a comfortable experience for the end-users.

The hospital was built by the Beijing Urban Construction Group (BUCG) with a total construction cost of around 317 million Yuan (N 17 billion) covering an area of 34 000 sqm. It contains 500 beds, including emergency treatment, pediatrics, neurology, dental, trauma, burn and other departments and once completed will be one of the most advanced and largest general hospitals in the region.

Render of General Hospital Site Layout. Image Courtesy BUCG.

Project Background

The Republic of Niger (Niger) is a landlocked country in Western Africa with over 80 percent of its land area covered by the Sahara Desert. Niger’s subtropical climate is extremely hot and dry with annual average temperature up to 35 centigrade. The rainy season is from July through September. The rest of the seasons are dry seasons and its annual precipitation is low. Niamey is the capital of Niger and the center of politics, economy and culture. the population of Niamey is about 1 million and Islam is the dominant religion.

The project is committed by the Chinese and Niger governments, aiming to build a large scale general public hospital together in order to improve and upgrade the local medical facilities.

Location

The site is located in a wide flat sandy tract around 7km at the northern side of the centre of Niamey city. This is the a developing dwell area with weak infrastructure. Local people expect a new hospital could upgrade their living conditions.

Outpatient Building, Emergency Building and Public Hall

The public hall is an important connecting and distributing space for the public. A well-designed hall shall be open to the public and provide the easy access, function of sheltering , good ventilation without using air conditioners and energy saving.

Muslim Worship Hall

Islam is the dominant religion in Niger, therefore we have considered Muslim worship halls scattered in the hospital in the design. Meanwhile, these worship halls can be transformed to temporary camping sites for patients and their families.

Inpatient Building and Ramps

The inpatient Building is designed into a two-story courtyard space, connecting by continuous ramps and cloisters. In addition, it can meet the hospital accessibility requirements without lifts and elevators.

Medical Technology Building

Medical Technology Building consists of four floors, including all important medical equipments and operating rooms in the hospital. The external wall adopts the single small-opening windows and the external sunshade in order to reduce the heat exchange.

Insulated Roofing

Insulation is the simple and effective way to reduce the indoor temperature. All the roofs are designed with thermal insulating layers, which are prefabricated concrete panels, to reduce the heat transmission.

Building Sun-shade

In the hot and dry environment, building shading has significant influence on the indoor temperature. In order to avoid direct sunlight, a number of external sun-shade components are designed. The gaps between the shading panels and the walls form air microcirculation around the windows, which is conducive to carry off the surrounding heat. The architectural technology of this sunshade system has high durability with in-situ concreting.

Natural Ventilation

Buildings are mostly designed with the opened veranda of two sides’ entrances, forming good natural convection and improving the physical experience of people inside.

Roof Drainage

Precipitation is quite low throughout the year. However, the heavy rainfall is intense with strong winds, the leaves and dust blown by strong wind could plug the drain normally. Open-designed drainage is easy to clean and meanwhile presents an important facade element. The local loose sandy soil is conducive to the natural infiltration of rain as well.

Corridor

Corridors connect various blocks of the hospital. The pillars of the corridor are widened to provide a larger sunshade area.

Adoption and Construction of Traditional “Tyrol” Exterior Wall 

Since Niger is located in the west Africa inland, bulk import of common exterior wall material is highly expensive. Under perennial high temperature and illumination intensity, erosion of the building exterior wall would be serious. Local traditional process “Tyrol” style exterior wall is adopted in the exterior wall design. The typical construction method is to manually spray the mixture, which is composed of the local river sand and white cement/water under a specific ratio, on the exterior wall surface. This kind of material not only achieves low construction cost, but also has high durability under hot & dry weather with easy maintenance.

The relationship between architecture and the environment not only consider the natural environment where the building is, but also the local economy and social impact. Therefore, a local traditional construction methods ensure the building is built with low cost, good quality and high durability. In such way, the building is not only adaptable to the local climates and environment, but also integrate into the local culture.

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