SA's greenest hospital

Cintocare Hospital in the green Menlyn Maine precinct is a tailor-made, high-performance clinical centre of excellence focused exclusively on head, neck, spinal and vascular surgery.

Africa’s first certified green hospital, Cintocare incorporates numerous sustainable design and management features, earning a 5 Green Star Custom Healthcare design certification from the Green Building Council South Africa (GBCSA). Healthcare facilities with green design have been found to deliver 15% faster recovery rates, a 22% reduction in need for pain medication, an 11% reduction in secondary infections, and an 8.5% reduction in hospital stays. Cintocare is also South Africa’s first hospital to generate its own oxygen on demand using an installed PSA (Pressure Swing Adsorption) plant.

The swooping glass façade represents a curve in the spinal vertebrae, hinting at the inner purpose of the building.

The property comprises seven levels: three parking, one for the plant room, and three clinical and consulting levels. The development partnership delivered the full suite of services for the 100-bed hospital. It incorporates 15 consulting rooms and five theatres, including one hybrid theatre, with the potential to increase this number to eight.

The initial architectural brief to A3 Architects envisioned the building as a symbol of mobility in the human body represented through presentday construction methods, while containing a mass of complex service networks required to supply the stateof-the-art equipment housed within.

With the site footprint fully utilised and enclosed on three sides, the design raised the hospital above the required parking areas. Green walls surround the parking from the ground up and float the hospital on ‘green lungs’. This allows clinical areas on upper levels to have access to natural lighting from north and south aspects.

Central to the architectural design is the visual link to nature from internal and street-facing areas of the hospital. The main reception and all clinical areas face two large atriums at the centre of the hospital, allowing visitors, patients and medical professionals to be welcomed within a space where nature is appreciated and aids in recovery.

The continuation of landscaping, designed by Bertha Wium Landscape Development, from the ground floor through to the Level 4 and Level 7 gardens plays a critical role in providing the majority of the wards and consulting areas with a view and access to nature.

The building’s exterior reflects its fundamental purpose. The swooping glass façade, which also serves to shade the building, represents a curve in the spinal vertebrae found in the neck, hinting at the inner purpose of the building.

Externally, the conceptual use of a single flowing strand creates a sense of unbroken movement in the design of the façade, linking a sense of mobility and proportion with contrasting horizontal elements. The result is a building that stands out from the ordinary though reflection of its function.

Cintocare Hospital incorporates 100 beds, 15 consulting rooms and five theatres, including one hybrid theatre, with the potential to increase this number to eight.

The heart of the hospital lies in its east and west atria, with both sides providing visual links to nature. Natural lighting is introduced by means of multiple skylights, thus creating a comfortable and relaxing space. This link is reinforced through use of natural materials, textures and colours.

The Level 4 entrance and reception provide a free-flowing link between the atria, Menlyn Maine Shopping Centre, and a well-positioned coffee shop – all facing inwards towards lush planting, all the while maintaining a unique contemporary feel.

Nature in the space addresses the direct, physical and ephemeral presence of nature. This link between nature, the benefits of biophilic-orientated design and healing of the human body embody the ideology and the basis of the design. Instead of walls, the building floats on green lungs and celebrates nature by incorporating landscaped areas across all levels and through use of beautiful organic forms and materials.

The heart of the hospital lies in its east and west atria, which provide visual links to nature. A coffee shop faces inwards towards lush planting.

The hospital has earned South Africa’s first Custom Healthcare 5 Green Star rating from the Green Building Council of South Africa (GBCSA) – making it the first hospital to achieve this milestone. The collaboration between Growthpoint, Cintocare, GBCSA and the professional team has resulted in a new green building certification tool for the healthcare and property sectors. This green certification tool is a roadmap to drive the development of more green healthcare buildings in South Africa in the future. The team has created a sustainable healthcare facility designed around the wellbeing of patients and hospital staff that supports the environment and its communities.

The new Cintocare Hospital leads the way in hospital design centred around the wellbeing of both patients and staff. The focus on the importance of green building elements has ensured that the hospital has embraced the healing component so often lacking in health facilities.

LANDSCAPING

With limited area for landscaping, Bertha Wium Landscape Development, led by Walter Language, was tasked with maximising the effect of the green landscaping on sidewalk level. This was achieved using dense and fastgrowing evergreen trees, shrubs and groundcovers. A layering effect on the narrow sidewalk provides sufficient green to ground the impressive structure in the surrounding streetscapes and link in with the greater Menlyn Maine Precinct landscape philosophy. Green screens continue this layering effect on the façade of the building, which is a combination of live plants and artificial foliage.

Various pause spaces had to be created for patients, visitors, doctors and nurses in the form of outside courtyards. Weight and area limits necessitated the clever use of greening to soften these courtyards on the top floor of the hospital. Flowering and creeping plants were used in various pot sizes in conjunction with ambient pergola structures. Textural use of hard landscape elements supports the limited planting additions of each area to complete a cohesive entity. •

Professional Team Developers:

Growthpoint Properties Architect: A3 Architects Johannesburg (Pty) Ltd Client: Cintocare Electrical Engineers: BWK and Conscious JV Fire Engineers: Chimera Lift Specialist: Solutions For Elevating S4E Mechanical Engineer: Zutari And Ascend JV Quantity Surveyors: TMS Structural Engineers: Sotiralis Sustainable Building Consultant: Zutari Wet Services: I-Mep Main Contractor: WBHO Project Manager: Gladafrica Environmental Consultant: Zutari Facilities Management Company: Cintocare Interior Designer: A3 Architects; Lood Architects Occupational Health & Safety Manager: Comprac Waste Contractor: Global Waste Acoustic Consultant: Subsonic Landscape Management Company: Bertha Wium Landscape Development Electrical Contractor: WAM