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Old Mines hospital transforming into a lakeside medical and nursing center

With the shrinking of the coal mining industry in Pingdingshan, the city that sprang up from the coal mines is facing an urban transformation. Many young people will go abroad to look for job opportunities, while the elderly who retired in the mining area will remain in the city. Many of them are already caregivers and are in urgent need of a rehabilitation and care organization to provide them with relevant services. The original intention of this project is to turn an unused mining hospital into a medical and nursing center through renewal. As the first building on the site is now nearly 40 years old. We thought that during the renovation process, not only new functions should be implanted, but also the users should experience the historical sense of the changing times. In addition to respecting the layout of existing buildings, the existing large trees and perennial wisteria on the site are also preserved. Trees are also a part of place memory. The second challenge is how to design an elderly friendly building. The design revolves around aspects such as social space, color recognition, safety, and accessibility. The inspiration comes from the site. The 12th Mine Hospital is surrounded by park. There is a lot of landscape resources. The overall strategy is to integrate the building into the park by opening the site interface facing the park. As a hospital with a history, architects wanted to respect the layout of the existing building and add to its appeal by updating the facade. Due to the fact that there is an equipment building on the east and west sides of the site, people inside the hospital cannot feel the surrounding park environment at all. Therefore, our design strategy is to remove the equipment buildings on the east and west sides and bring in the park view. Because the facade of the existing building is made of white bricks, the image of the building is cold and not friendly enough. The renovation strategy for the façade of the building takes the de-hospitalization element as a starting point. Red brick material was used to add warm colors. Orange polycarbonate panels were added to the façade of the rehabilitation and outpatient buildings to give the façade variety and vibrancy. The project integrates environmental sustainability, including the reuse of old building structures, shading, and rooftop gardens. Health is a key factor in healthcare centers, including natural lighting, natural ventilation, indoor greening, comfortable acoustic effects and material selection. The light-filled atrium of the healthcare center has high side windows to meet the demand for natural ventilation. New orange polycarbonate boards added on the façade not only makes the building facade dynamic but also provides shade. The main users of this project are the elderly, so it is necessary to do some thinking from the perspective of the elderly. For example, in the interior design of the healthcare center, we use color, curves and childishness as design elements. Different public areas are differentiated by distinct colors to help the elderly to recognize and take timely action. In the private area, warm yellow and Grey-green are used as the main colors to highlight the warm and fresh atmosphere of aging. The use of curved lines not only increases the interest of the interior space, but also avoids the existence of sharp corners in the public areas to prevent the elderly from bumping into the protruding hard corners. Part of the public space is childlike to evoke the childishness of the elderly and get rid of the sense of loneliness.

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