Shanghai, China
Located in a park on Minsheng Road, Minhang District, Shanghai, The Deformable Modularized COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention Hospital in Shanghai covers an area of 750.5 square meters and consists of the isolation ward area (24 beds), the medical staff work area, and auxiliary functional areas for power, water, ventilation, and oxygen supply.
Designed by Chenping Han and his team from School of Architecture and Design, China University of Mining and Technology, the project was designed at the beginning of 2021.
The Deformable Modularized COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention Hospital in Shanghai was awarded a 2022 International Architecture Award by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
The project takes an isolation negative pressure ward as the core module (4 beds), which compresses various architectural components into a module based on the prototype of a 20-foot international standard container and combines with other auxiliary modules through a series of design methods such as integration, separation, movement, replacement, opening and closing, deformation, expansion, lift, and rotation.
Human history is accompanied by various viruses. SARS, MERS, COVID-19, and other unpredictable outbreaks of highly infectious viruses that severely threaten the survival and normal social life of mankind.
Since the scale, time, and place of such outbreaks cannot be predicted, a temporary medical building that can be used for a long time is of great necessity.
Such buildings should possess the following characteristics: easy to store and transport, suitable for the treatment of infectious diseases, applicable for multiple sites, and environmental-friendly.
Adjustable building scale, time-saving construction and demolition, and low requirements for construction personnel are also indispensable characteristics of these buildings.
Moreover, integrated module design is made for power, water, drainage, and ventilation in order to cope with the impact of building deformation on electricity, water, ventilation, and other equipment.
Only lamps, display screens, and simple medical equipment are to be connected and installed on site.
Full consideration has been attached to the psychological comfort of patients and medical staff in this project.
A large number of reflective materials are employed on the facade of the building to reduce the possible visual and psychological impact of the hospital on people through its mapping to the surrounding environment.
Since the installation of each building component is carried out in strict sequence, less skilled workers can carry out the construction with some simple training.
In addition, although the lifting of the module requires the use of a light crane, the module can be unfurled and dismantled with common tools and simple scaffolds.
The project also offers two options for the post-pandemic disposal of the building: one is to take it down and store it for future use; and the other is to give it new uses and functions on-site, such as hotels, bars, and cafes.
Project: The Deformable Modularized COVID-19 Epidemic Prevention Hospital in Shanghai
Architects: Chenping Han, School of Architecture and Design, China University of Mining and Technology
Design Team: Chenping Han, Feng Gao, and Hanchenping Studio, CUMT
Client: Wuxi Environmental Sanitation Services Co., Ltd.
Photographs Courtesy of the Architects
