With a trademark design, Columbia Asia Hospital — Bukit Rimau,
represents a trend in the design of modern hospitals, writes Aneeta Sundararaj
YOU injure your foot and will
probably need to see a specialist in a medical centre. However, you’re
reluctant to go there. This has nothing to do with the long waiting time or the
high medical fees.
You actually dread the walk from
one end of the building to the other — from the doctor’s clinic to the pharmacy
or the payment counter. Worse, the X-ray department is on a different floor
altogether. You half wonder if the architect ever considered the plight of the
old and the infirm when he designed the hospital.
There are no such worries at
Columbia Asia Hospital — Bukit Rimau in Shah Alam. This hospital has been
chosen to grace the dust jacket of an internationally published book by Jasmin
Yu titled Hospitals.
Forty hospitals from around the
world are featured in this compilation of sophisticated building structures and
interior designs illustrating the ‘’functional importance of such purpose-built
edifices (and considering) the aesthetic criteria of the architecture”.
The architect for this hospital,
Environmental Design Practice managing director Chua Caik Leng, explains that
designing hospitals can be complex because it involves combining technology and
construction.
With Columbia Asia Hospital —
Bukit Rimau, there was an additional layer of complexity: Keeping in mind the
words of Rick Evans, chairman of Columbia Asia Group, “compactness works”.
Despite being a specialist in
hospital designs, Chua found this to be a challenge.
“Our design had to be different
from that of other hospitals here. Most of them are vernacular or tropical and
have an overhanging roof,” says 49-year-old Chua.
Keeping the entire structure
simple but elegant, he adds: “It’s clinical, machine-like. We wanted to create
a sense of precision. If you look at other hospitals, each department will have
its own ‘wastages’ like compressor units and these are placed next to the
department. What we’ve done is to centralise all these on one floor, above the
second floor. This is the interstitial space and no man’s land. Having all
these ‘wastages’ placed there also help in insulation.
This means you won’t see places
like a mechanical room anywhere in this hospital.”
In line with being compact, there
are only two floors. On the ground floor are the clinics, laboratories,
treatment centres and administrative offices, and the first floor houses 81
rooms.
“All our rooms have windows so
the patients can look outside,” says Chua. “As you can see, the building does
not have concrete walls. It has glass curtain walls.”
Other than enhancing the look of
the hospital, these have a specific thickness and are tinted to help control
the amount of natural light transmitted into the hospital.
Chua has also taken a softer
approach in designing the interior but insists that he “didn’t want any
arty-farty frills”.
What he means is that he has a
no-nonsense approach to assembling and installing things. For instance, the
reception counter is made of a synthetic material and cultured marble. You will
not find disjointed slabs of marble that create grooves and sharp corners.
“Just like a good suit, if it’s made well and the detailing is done properly,
you will not need frills to cover up the mistakes,” says Chua.
Despite the colour scheme being
neutral, the walls of this hospital (and all other hospitals owned by the
Columbia Asia Group) are not completely bare as the hospital commissions
artwork by HelenK.
“Actually, my name is Helen Kwek,
but it’s hard for people to say Kwek. So, I only use K ,” explains the bubbly
47-year-old Kwek.
Trained as an interior designer,
her speciality is painting on glass. “I use a reverse painting technique.
This means I paint on the back of
the glass. I use specially imported paint for glass and other materials, like
tempered glass and silicone,” she says. “I’m inspired by nature. I like to
think of sunlight, sky, water and lines.”
She explains that she uses
rigorous brushstrokes and vibrant colours to capture the illusion of flowing
movements in her work. She is careful not to include black or red lines in the
artwork she creates for the hospitals.
“Black is negative and red is the
colour of blood,” she explains, adding: “I always ask, ‘Who is the audience?’.
Here, it’s the doctors, workers, staff, patients, visitors and caretakers. They
must like the paintings.”
Chua interrupts at this moment
and says: “Come, I want to show you something special about Kwek’s paintings.”
He makes his way inside one of
the rooms and stands at the head of the bed. “In other hospitals, above the
bed, you can see a panel with sockets for oxygen supply and so on. You won’t
see them here,” he says.
Indeed, one of Kwek’s paintings
is the only object mounted on the wall above the bed. Then, Chua slides the
painting to one side to reveal a panel of switches, electronic sockets and gas
outlets. No doubt, this is an example of unifying aesthetics and functionality
in the design of a hospital.
With a trademark design that is
simple, the geometric lines of Columbia Asia Hospital — Bukit Rimau certainly
represents a trend in the design of modern hospitals. The natural light that
streams through the entire building adds to the positive ambience. All the care
and attention to detail will only serve to benefit patients and instill in them
a sense of confidence that they will find comfort and healing.
Kwek says: “We want people who
come here — patients, doctors, visitors — to be happy.”
Aneeta Sundararaj
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