Location: Bamyan, Afghanistan.

Architect: Arcop.

The Bamyan Provincial Hospital in Afghanistan is a new hospital built in an area called Village Mullah Ghulam, close to the Dragon Valley. The hospital is accessed by three streets, and the architecture respects and understands the nature of living and building in rural communities of Bamyan. The hospital master plan is developed around a series of courts, and all outdoor spaces are arranged in a layered sequence, moving from areas of greater public usage to the absolute private areas required for critical care and well-being of patients. The hospital is oriented north-south to maximize solar gain in winter and optimize daylighting. The design is also sensitive to the fact that Bamyan lacks technically skilled craftsmen or labor, and so in this rural setting, the detailing is kept simple. The hospital is entered from the western quadrant along the main street into an arrival court. The landscape design takes inspiration from the juxtapositioning of the mountains and valleys to develop a design which is based on the tradition of Central Asian/Islamic landscapes, center around courts. Indigenous flora and fauna have been used for soft landscaping, and trees such as poplars and cypress have been used to define outdoor spaces. Fruit trees such as apples and apricots provide shading, emphasize seasons, and enhance fragrance. The hospital is powered by solar power, and the stabilized rammed earth walls provide a thermal mass to the building. The site is organized as a layered sequence of courts, and the hospital caters to three distinct traffic movements: pedestrians, vehicular, and ambulances. Internally, the hospital caters to a three-tier circulation system consisting of visitor corridors, in-patient corridors, and service corridors. The design is intended to create an architecture that fosters healing and well-being, taking a “biophilic” approach to design, where through natural light and ventilation, views of mountains and gardens, and access to outdoor courts, an architecture is created that fosters healing and well-being.

Photo credit: Irfan Naqi Yawar Jilani Mahboob Khan, Abdullah Omar, Asghar Khan.