Native bougainvillea plant covers the security envelope, suggesting protection while still connecting to the larger Limbe community and beautifying the exterior. The use of native plants, fruit bearing trees, additional open space outside of the envelope, local materials, and the visibility of the complex from the outside instills comfort in both users and non-users alike.
MALAMULO HOSPITAL: THE LIMBE MEDICAL COMPLEX
Course: Design 9
Location: Limbe, Malawi
[ The goal for this project is to challenge typical negative perceptions of a medical facility in Malawi by acting as a place of familiarity for users and the community. From the approach to the relationship between the architecture and the landscape, the complex aims to instill a sense of comfort within users while meeting the pragmatic needs of a medical facility. By creating a main pathway upon which everyone circulates, public interaction is created while providing an efficient means for patients and staff to get from place to place. While the pathway extends across the site, the main medical functions are designed for efficiency within. Concrete screens and a change in overhangs signal transitory spaces and waiting areas easily identifiable by users. As users move along the pathway and into buildings, they cross through a series of thresholds that transitions between open, semi-enclosed, enclosed, sheltered, and open again—creating variety along the buildings while also providing opportunities for better ventilation throughout. ]
The main medical programming sits along one side of the pathway to hover over the landscape while the supplemental programming sits along the other, pushing itself into the earth. This allows the landscape to form around buildings to provide a range of garden spaces and views down the site towards Mount Mulanje and the surrounding landscape. This also creates an opportunity for the gardens to slow and manage storm water as it moves down the site.
Thesis Statement:
This project aims to provide a sense of comfort and control by means of visual and physical access between nature, patients, and staff.
Entry Perspective
Compressed Stabilized Block | Concrete Screen | Curtain Wall
[ Concrete frame structure with infills depending on function & level of privacy ]
Section perspective through maternity (left) and outpatient (right)
Perspective of garden between outpatient (left) and maternity (right)
Perspective looking down pathway
