Designed by OMA together with BuroHappold, the prototype is the result of research for the Al Daayan Health District Masterplan, commissioned by Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), the main provider of secondary and tertiary healthcare in Qatar and one of the leading health systems in the Middle East.

Based in Doha, the project consists of a modular structure of two-storey-high units, incorporating gardens where nature can be enjoyed by patients and staff. Modules can be reconfigured and expanded with little disruption to ongoing care procedures, says the architectural studio, significantly lowering the cost of adapting the facility in the future.

Numerous variations in the design of the facades are possible thanks to 3D-printing, OMA adds, reintroducing ornament into an architectural typology usually characterised by austerity. A high-tech farm that supplies food and medicinal plants, a dedicated logistics centre, and a solar farm enable the hospital to function autonomously.

The Al Daayan Health District is located on a 1.3m sq m site between Qatar University and the new Lusail City, offering the potential for symbiosis between architecture and medical science.

A tertiary teaching hospital, a women’s and children’s hospital, and an ambulatory diagnostics centre, with a total capacity of 1200 beds, are joined into a single structure. Clinical facilities occupy the first floor, while bed wards are located on the ground floor, reducing the dependency on elevators and allowing patients to enjoy the complex’s generous gardens – healing spaces that have a long history in Islamic medical architecture.

The video has been produced by creative media company Squint/Opera. The research involved Henning Larsen (clinical architect), Michel Desvigne Paysagiste (landscape architect), ETL (healthcare planning), Spaceagency (wayfinding), De Leeuw Group (cost advisor), and Engineering Consultants Group (stakeholder management).