Aldara Hospital & Medical Center

The Project

The new seven-story Hospital and Medical Center is designed to provide comprehensive high-quality medical care to the people of Riyadh. The new state-of-the-art facility includes approximately 250 hospital beds, 188 examination rooms, 68 clinics, 18 outpatient procedure rooms, and 10 operating rooms. Additionally, there are two below grade levels which house parking, water storage tanks, and a V.I.P entrance with a large angled and curved glazed opening above. The more than 1,200,000 GSF project has several elevated courtyards and terraces, and incorporates cultural, religious and educational opportunities alongside its main medical functions.

Structural Features

The structural framing for most of the building is cast-in-place concrete with concrete columns and concrete shearwalls supporting conventionally reinforced concrete floor slabs. The floor slabs throughout the hospital were designed to more stringent vibration limits, with the most stringent vibration limits being implemented at the Operating Rooms. Additionally, elevated floor slabs were designed to accommodate an MRI and its shielding, several CT Scanners, a transformer building, a security building, heavy mechanical equipment, concrete water storage tanks, truck access, and landscaped courtyards.

The project incorporated a long, cantilevered trellis system at the roof for solar shielding, a large main entrance canopy, and a security building, which were all steel framed. Steel framing was also used to design hung equipment supports for surgical booms, light booms, and procedure lights. Foundations for the building were conventional spread and strip footings, but due to the difficulties with excavating into the rock, the spread footings were designed to be tapered and poured monolithically with the slab-on-grade.