Costa Lopes Arq

Luanda University Hospital is located in the Vila Rubra development, which is an integral part of the Residential District Plan for the new town of Camama.

This new residential town, which lies 20 km south of Luanda and covers an area of 1 200 ha, was designed as an alternative to the centre of the Luanda that would absorb part of the population expansion of the capital and provide homes for some 150 000 people.

One part of this new urban centre is the Vila Rubra development, which covers some 150 hectares. Luanda University Hospital is an integral part of Vila Rubra. On an area of 8 hectares, the design proposes a vegetation curtain that envelops the whole building campus, ensuring an ideal atmosphere of calm, contemplation and relaxation for a healthcare facility. This atmosphere continues on into the building’s interior, where transparent elements, inner courtyards and hanging gardens help to erase the boundary between exterior and interior.

With a planned capacity to provide healthcare for some 100 000 people, the hospital consists of six volumes (3+3 parallelepipeds of three floors each on top of each other) that are subtly structured and interconnected. Distinct in terms of programme and typology, they are geometrically interrelated and feature numerous courtyards providing lots of natural light.

This sophisticated conjugation helps to deconstruct the compact spatial coldness that is normally a feature of hospital building and assume a more human dimension.

Design
Eduardo Souto de Moura
Albert de Pineda Alvarez

Client
Institutional

GFA
73 170 sq.m