Pune, India
Occupying the lower slopes of a hill within Symbiosis International University’s 260-acre estate in Lavale, Pune, the Symbiosis University Hospital and Research Centre (SUHRC) by the team of IMK Architects led by Rahul Kadri employs passive and biophilic design strategies for a hospital ready to take on the future of healthcare.
SUHRC is a 96,100-square-metre, 216-bed, multi-specialty hospital that represents a new and progressive face for healthcare infrastructure in India, providing state-of-the-art healthcare facilities and a research center to enhance skill development.
The second phase of development at SUHRC, which entailed the addition of a Teaching Hospital for the Symbiosis Medical College for Women, has been completed in a record span of four and a half months.
This was achieved by creating a simple, efficient, and flexible design solution that was quick to construct and would be adaptive to changing requirements.
It is currently being used by the Maharashtra government as a Covid-19 quarantine facility and hospital, contributing to the state’s fight against the pandemic.
The project demonstrates a fitting response to its setting, designed with full acknowledgement of the topography and the needs of the surrounding community for state-of-the-art health care, research, education, and skills development.
Sitting along a slope, the building is strategically positioned to minimize the cut-and-fill of the hill site. Planned as a robust curve along the contours of the land, it forms the façade of the project.
Imbibing the client brief of ‘grandeur’ being a key element, two significant and symbolic entrances have been designed, distinct in approach to cater to the client brief of unique identities for the hospital and the academic block.
What sets SUHRC apart is the use of Compressed Stabilised Earth Bricks (CSEB), which were produced on-site and used to create double-skinned, boxed forms with deep shading projections to reduce heat gain.
This marks the first time that CSEB has been used on this scale anywhere across the world.
All bricks were made by hand during construction by local masons, providing them with employment opportunities.
This on-site manufacturing process not only reduced transportation costs and material wastage but also significantly reduced carbon emissions.
The project is an exemplar of passive design and sustainability.
IMK Architects’ design draws from the ideas of biophilia (an innate human tendency to seek connections with nature and other forms of life) to promote recovery and rejuvenation for patients and healthcare professionals.
The main central courtyard not only brings in the above features but also makes the space aesthetically pleasing, soothing to the eye creating a calm oasis.
The space is completely transformed, unlike any regular hospitals, which are much mundane, completely air-conditioned spaces without any daylight & natural ventilation in significant areas.
This also helped in simplifying the way-finding in the building, which otherwise in other hospital projects is a complicated affair for the users adding to their trauma in searching spaces/ departments within the structure.
The reference to “Tele-Medicine services” for rural communities is very relevant, and the use of the facility as a Covid-19 centre demonstrates the multi-functional character of the facility.
With its state-of-the-art healthcare facilities and a research centre to enhance skill development, it is firmly anchored as a COVID-19 quarantine and treatment facility, contributing to Maharashtra’s fight against the pandemic.
Functionally, the building comprises of four sections; three of them belong to the hospital and the last one being the Skill Centre. Every section has been planned and conceptualized for its functionality- driven design and a distinct formal response as a result.
Rahul Kadri, Partner and Principal Architect, IMK Architects and Nithin Hosabettu, Design Director, IMK Architects said: “We wanted to design a hospital that was sustainable, climate-responsive and addresses critical health concerns of cross-infection and contamination, especially during the pandemic.”
He continues with the statement: “We designed the hospital around courtyards which allow for adequate natural light and ventilation, with little reliance on mechanical cooling systems, while integrating biophilia into the facility.”
Dr. Vidya Yeravdekar, Pro Chancellor, Symbiosis International (Deemed University) & Principal Director, Symbiosis Society said: “The Symbiosis University Hospital and Research Centre (SUHRC) is a project that is very close to my heart as I am a doctor. Rahul Kadri, Partner and Principal Architect, IMK Architects and his team’s strategic design not only caters to every aspect of efficient healthcare delivery but also addresses elements of sustainability. The hospital was our dream project which IMK Architects turned into reality.”
Carefully and strategically planned, the building attempts to make gestures that are grand, yet local and responsive with attention to details such as the brick-art and the exposed concrete.
Sitting comfortably on the fringe of the hill, the inner courtyards seem like a continuation of the hill, where the built form amalgamates with the site.
Allowing nature to be a part of the hospital and integrating it as a comforting element for the patients, the hospital creates a space for recovery and rejuvenation.
Founded in 1957, IMK Architects is an architecture and urban design practice headquartered in Mumbai with another office in Bengaluru.
Social consciousness, sustainability, and robust designs have been the cornerstones of the practice.
Its unique, collaborative SCRUM design process, which involves intense workshops with all project stakeholders to question briefs and prioritize requirements, ensures the effective and efficient delivery of holistic design solutions that don’t just meet initial expectations but transcend them.
Today, after over six decades of practice, IMK Architects draws from this rich legacy and cutting-edge research and innovation to create architecture that responds to time, place, and most importantly, people — vibrant, dynamic, healthy, socially-inclusive and ecologically-sensitive spaces where lives flourish and activities thrive.
Project: Symbiosis University Hospital and Research Centre (SUHRC)
Architects: IMK Architects
Lead Architect: Rahul Kadri
Design Team: Nithin Hosabettu, Sahil Bipin Deshpande, Viraj Naralkar, Aakash Kumar Srivastav, Oshmi Sengupta, and Pallavi Rai`
Client: Symbiosis Society
Photographer: Rajesh Vora
