Satkhira’s Friendship Hospital shortlisted for RIBA International Prize
Architect Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury of Urbana designed the hospital in Shyamnagar upazila of the district with a sustainable healthcare facility
The Friendship Hospital in the riverine Satkhira district has been shortlisted for the RIBA International Prize.
The Royal Institute of British Architects has shortlisted the hospital as the world's best new building, along with the James-Simon-Galerie in Berlin and the Lille Langebro bridge in Copenhagen.
Architect Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury of Urbana designed the hospital in Shyamnagar upazila of the district with a sustainable healthcare facility.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
NGO Friendship built the hospital in April 2018.
The 80-bed community hospital sits on a fluid, shape-shifting landscape prone to periodic hydro dangers in a 51,400 square-foot area.
The architecture blends into its rural surroundings, flanked on both sides by water, with raw brick walls and sprawling courtyards that line the canal that divides the hospital's inpatient and outpatient parts.
Kashef Mahboob Chowdhury said, "We had to remember we were building in a remote, rural area whose economy had been decimated because of the rising sea levels. The task we set was to create a calm, quiet environment and an internal landscape that would be both an echo and a contrast to the surrounding countryside. "
The hospital's architecture integrates with the surrounding water bodies of the area in such a way that it could withstand rising water levels as a result of climate change.
Such naturally ventilated environments with water harvesting make the architecture unique.
"We realised we had to come up with a practical solution to hold the rainfall when we saw the local water tanks where they store the all-valuable rainwater-the groundwater being salty and unsuitable. The canal currently collects all the rain that falls on the main campus. Our groundwater filtration system was also set up at a reasonable cost using local equipment and suppliers," the architect added.
For Chowdhury and Urbana, this award highlights how the power of business endeavors may be directed toward constructing socially and environmentally responsible structures that address climate warming.
He hoped that well-planned actions and solutions can help to lessen the sufferings of people.
The RIBA International Priza is awarded every two years and is open to any qualified architect in the world. The 2021 winner of the prize will be announced in early 2022.
