Khoo Teck Puat Hospital (KTPH) sets a new benchmark in healthcare design with its ‘hospital in a garden, garden in a hospital’ concept. A competition-winning scheme, it features sleek aesthetics and distinct façades for each of its three blocks. The hospital opens up to its adjacent lake, while a massive sunken courtyard takes centre stage, introducing light and greenery to the lower levels. Aluminium sunshades and light shelves provide weatherproofing while courtyards, roof gardens and full-height glazing afford generous daylighting and ventilation. With its decidedly non-clinical environment and innovative eco-friendly features, KTPH is well positioned as a premier hospital of the future, both regionally and internationally.

Environmentally-friendly strategies to reuse and improve energy efficiency were also incorporated. For example, the internal courtyard gardens are cooled with cold air from the hospital’s operations. These features do away with the need to air-condition public areas, saving on energy costs. In addition, there are solar panels on the roof to heat water for the hospital’s use, and its auto-irrigation system for the landscaping utilises water from Yishun Pond.

Unlike previous hospitals in Singapore that are enclosed around an air-conditioned atrium, KTPH embraces greenery from landscaping to building design. KTPH is also home to 66 species of birds, 70 species of plants, 83 species of butterflies, 26 species of dragonflies and 100 species of fishes, enhancing and preserving the biodiversity of the area.  Verdant greenery is found across the hospital from basement to rooftop to realise the vision of “A hospital in a garden, a garden in a hospital”.  The rooftop community garden is maintained by volunteers living nearby and provides the community with a therapeutic environment, promoting wellness and health.