Bangladesh Hospital Takes Top Honors: Wins RIBA International Prize 2021 for World's Best New Building

Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA's Friendship Hospital in Satkhira, southwest Bangladesh, has been awarded the prestigious RIBA International Prize 2021, the highest global accolade for design excellence and social impact in architecture. The sustainable and low-cost hospital provides essential healthcare services to the local communities and offers a medical lifeline to thousands of people in an area that was severely impacted by a major cyclone in 2007.

The building was designed with care and humanity at the heart of its scheme, responding innovatively to the challenging environmental conditions of Bengal, a fragile and dynamic environment, directly impacted by rising sea levels. The hospital was commissioned by the long-standing NGO client, Friendship, as part of the organization's mission to strengthen and empower remote rural areas.

Water is central to the design of the hospital, as the rising seawater has resulted in agricultural land being converted into shrimp fisheries. A canal cuts through the length of the site, separating the inpatients and outpatients, and rainwater from all areas of the complex is drained and stored in a newly built tank. The water channel also helps with micro-climatic cooling during the hot summers, avoiding the need for high-energy-consuming air-conditioning.

Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA's design creates an uplifting and inviting experience for visitors, patients and healthcare professionals and a peaceful environment consistent with health and healing. A series of intimate courtyards bring light and natural ventilation to the wards, providing spaces for patients and visitors to rest with viewpoints of the natural surroundings. Sensitive areas of the hospital are protected from direct tropical light through shielded corridors and double-layered arches.

The hospital is crafted in local brickwork chosen for its resilient qualities and low cost, with openings in the brickwork offering private shaded areas and natural cooling. Built for longevity, the hospital campus celebrates local and traditionally crafted materials. The design reflects the NGO's commitment to lasting social change, providing dignity and hope to communities through social innovation.

Friendship Hospital was chosen as the winner of the RIBA International Prize 2021 from a selection of three outstanding shortlisted entries. The project was judged by a distinguished Grand Jury chaired by world-renowned multidisciplinary French architect and urban planner, Odile Decq.

In response to the award, Kashef Chowdhury said that he was "encouraged that this may inspire more of us to commit, not in spite of, but because of limitations of resources and means, to an architecture of care both for humanity and for nature, to rise collectively to the urgencies that we face today on a planetary scale." The hospital's innovative and clear design, along with its social impact, makes it an exemplar of thoughtful and creative design of a building of great importance and scale, built within a modest budget and crafted with the local community and its natural surroundings in mind.

In summary, Friendship Hospital in Bangladesh is a sustainable and low-cost hospital that provides essential healthcare services to local communities. The hospital was designed with care and humanity at the heart of its scheme, responding innovatively to the challenging environmental conditions of Bengal. The hospital is crafted in local brickwork chosen for its resilient qualities and low cost, with openings in the brickwork offering private shaded areas and natural cooling. The hospital's innovative and clear design, along with its social impact, makes it an exemplar of thoughtful and creative design of a building of great importance and scale, built within a modest budget and crafted with the local community and its natural surroundings in mind.

 

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Photos: Winner of the RIBA International Prize: Friendship Hospital by Kashef Chowdhury/URBANA © Asif Salman