In response to the rapidly growing practice of medical tourism, the Shanghai Minhang District Health Bureau wanted to create a new medical campus for local residents and those traveling across international borders to receive medical care. Gresham Smith provided a master plan for the Shanghai International Medical City—a supersized medical campus consisting of 77 acres and 5 million square feet of healthcare spaces to accommodate 3,000 beds, five hospitals and specialty clinics.
With strategies to deliver a garden-like setting and design breakthroughs that will provide a carbon-neutral site, the campus establishes an oasis of healing and a civic amenity in an intensely urban environment.
Finding the Flow, Organizing the Space
Site planning was a challenge. There wasn’t enough acreage to accommodate separate inpatient and outpatient entrances nor separate parking for staff, inpatients and outpatients without sacrificing all public and park space.As separating inpatient from outpatient populations is important in China, we used a platform concept to organize the space. Five main facilities connect on subterranean levels topped by a public plaza. The plaza slopes upward from the edge to three stories above street-level, with two functioning stories and parking below grade. The spaces under the platform are for functions that don’t require windows, such as diagnostic equipment, storage, culinary and laundry.