The demand for quality healthcare in Tier-2 towns in India has been rising in the last few years. To cope up this demand, a 200-bedded super speciality hospital has been set up in Sri Ganganagar in Rajasthan. The hospital is located on the outskirts of Sri Ganganagar, on the Suratgarh-Hanumangarh Bypass Road on a 3-acre plot of land. The brief for the architects was to set up an ultramodern facility with a possibility of expansion to take it to 300 beds while keeping in mind budgetary constraints.

The H-shape of the building helped in creating distinct zones for segregating independent departments while keeping the vertical circulation central. This ensured easy and unobstructed movement of patients, doctors and visitors, which is of prime importance in the functioning of any hospital. The H-shape also enabled the addition of an additional block for future expansion. A ramp has been provided to connect all levels for the convenience of physically handicapped persons as well as for evacuation of patients in case of fire.

Natural light and ventilation are essential elements for designing any building, especially hospitals. A lot of hospitals are being planned today as centrally air-conditioned facilities, but that does not mean one should sacrifice these crucial elements. The orientation of the buildings has been kept such to maximize glazing on the north and the south faces while effectively blocking the hot sun on the eastern and the western faces. The H-shape ensures natural light and ventilation to almost the entire building while still offering mutual shade to cut down the heat.

The façade of the building is interspersed with transparent and opaque elements composed of large glass panels and solid shafts. The two-tone grit finish, created using locally sourced Dholpur and Jaisalmer stone not only provide a permanent finish but also gives the hospital a sharp look while creating an array of clean lines throughout the elevation.

The planning of the building has been based on a 6600 x 6600mm grid with 3000mm for internal corridor space. These dimensions meet with most of the requirements essential for various functions. It can accommodate an operation theatre, a six-bedded general ward in one unit, two single bedded private wards with attached toilets or two reasonably sized rooms for doctors, nurses/staff change rooms, etc.

Wall and floor finish for wards, ICUs and waiting areas are selected in such a way that infection and dust accumulation is minimised. Sizes of the tiles were chosen in such a way that the number of joints was minimised. Antibacterial paint is applied on walls to cut down on the spread of infection. The subtle orange and white colour scheme is used to make the spaces simple and pleasant looking.

While designing the services the brief was clear – the systems had to be robust and easily maintainable – keeping in mind the lack of availability of trained manpower in the area. Any breakdown would require a company service engineer to come from another city.

Though the project did not undergo any Green rating system yet systems have been adopted to make the building Green, Sustainable and Energy efficient. Use of Solar panels both for heating water and power generation, insulated glass to minimize heat gain while still maintaining large glazing for increasing day-lighting within buildings, Wastewater recycling, high-efficiency Chillers for HVAC were some of the strategies that were implemented.

PROJECT DETAILS:

Name of the project, location: Medanta Ganganagar Hospital at Sri Ganganagar, Rajasthan

Name of the firm (architectural): Manchanda Associates, New Delhi                               

Client: S. N. Super Specialty Hospital

Design team: R C Manchanda, Shamit Manchanda, Lalit Pandey

Consultants:

Structure: Charu Engineering Consultants

MEP: V S Consulting

Civil Project Managers: Ved Pal and Ajeet Singh

Built-up area: 1,65,000 sft.

Cost of project: Rupees 72 Crore

Year of completion: 2018

All images courtesy of Manchanda Associates.

> via Inputs from Manchanda Associates, New Delhi