world news
Unusal Hospital Contructed in Japan
A SMALL private medical centre with a non-hospital look has recently been constructed near Kobe, Japan. The six-storey building is a complete departure from some of Japan's traditional ideas on hospital design and adminis- tration.
It is a steel and reinforced concrete structure, de- signed to look like a residential hotel, with 7,574 sq. m. of usable floor space. There are no wards. Of the 82 rooms, 72 are private and ten others accomodate a total of 36 beds.
The private rooms are located on the third, fourth
TITITITIT
4.
FIFTH FLOOR
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and fifth floors, while the ten larger rooms are housed on the second floor, another part of which is alotted to laboratories and recovery rooms.
The functional layout of the medical centre is de- signed to provide a maximum of privacy and quiet for the patients. All administration and support functions are located on the top floor of the building, with offices for the medical staff, doctors' lounge, conference room, dining room, along with barber and beauty shops.
Principal medical facilities are housed in the spaci- ous basement floor, including a well-equipped operating room. X-ray laboratory and supply room, as well as the machine rooms. The ground floor is divided into a lob- by, pharmacy, reception area, executive offices and staff cafeteria.
Administration of the hospital will be unique for Japan, since there will be no resident doctors, Patients will be under the care of their private doctor or a con- sulting physician of their choice. The new institution. which will be operated as a membership organization, will be known as the Kosetsu Memorial Hospital. It is own- ed and operated by the Asahi Hospital Company.
The centre was designed and constructed by Takena- ka Komuten Co. Ltd., Osaka, Work started on the site in August 1964 2nd was completed in May 1967.
Flexibility of Space in New California School
A NEW environmental approach to school building design is reflected in the planning of the Bret Harte junior high school of San Jose, California.
The school features both flexibility of space and flexibility of environmental control. Within a minimum teaching area facilities are provided for adequate illumina- tion, ventilation and sound treatment. Typical 48 ft. x 60 ft. classroom wings can be subdivided into any com- bination of smaller rooms, even to a classroom 24 ft. x 30 ft. Sliding partitions permit rapid conversion of space. To provide design continuity and additional flexibility.
each of the smaller areas contain two lateral beams divid- ing the 24 ft. x 30 ft. ceiling into three 8 ft. x 30 ft. panels. Within each panel, a 2 ft. x 26 ft. Day-Brite light- ing element is surface mounted, consisting of: two 8 ft. and two 4 ft. 3-row 40-watt luminaires, plus a matching 2 ft. x 2 ft. air diffuser in the centre of each row.
The average maintained lighting level in the small space is approximately 80 footcandles. When fully open- ed, the entire space is lighted to approximately 100 foot- candles. Each of the 2 ft. x 2 ft. air supply grills sup- plies 400 c.f.m., or approximately 1.6 c.f.m. per sq. ft. Architects for the project were Clark. Stromquist,
Far East Architect & Builder October, 1967
One
of the 72 private rooms with terrace
Kosetsu hospital with hotel atmosphere
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