The American bureau MASS Design Group is known for its social projects for Africa, implemented by local forces using local materials and techniques in an acutely resource-constrained environment. It was therefore logical that this experience of architects came in handy in Haiti after the catastrophic earthquake of 2010, which left the poorest country in Latin America in ruins.
First, MASS was tasked with rebuilding the destroyed GHESKIO Tuberculosis Hospital, designed to combat the multidrug-resistant pathogens of the disease. It takes much longer to treat this type of tuberculosis (up to two years instead of the usual six months), and it is more contagious, and the patient must spend the first 2–6 months in complete isolation. Airborne transmission is a particular problem, which is why the architects built their design around a natural ventilation scheme.
The building for 33 patients is located next to the GHESKIO laboratories (
GHESKIO is a non-governmental organization that provides free medical care to the Haitian population. It was created in 1982 to fight AIDS / HIV, and then other diseases). The two floors are organized around a corridor, where the chambers only go from one inner side. On the other hand, they face a 5-corner courtyard where patients can walk. Each room has a balcony or terrace behind a bamboo screen: these are intended for medical consultations, as outdoors, the risk of infection is reduced. Also, the risk of contamination reduces the ability to access patient bathrooms directly from the corridor, bypassing the wards: this is convenient for the cleaning team.
Through ventilation, due to the orientation of the building along the wind rose, air is “blown out” from the courtyard side through the chambers and the corridor to the outside. Outside windows flank the lamellas, preventing the air coming out of them from getting back through the adjacent openings. There are mechanical ventilation devices as an emergency backup.
The premises for the medical staff have been designed taking into account the wishes of the doctors and nurses, who were consulted by the architects.
Landscaping of the space in front of the building divides the main entrance area for quick patient admission from the area for already discharged Haitians undergoing routine check-ups. There is also a waiting area for visitors.
In the courtyard, a variety of landscaping is thought out, a pond with fish is arranged, several covered spaces for individual and group pastime.
The walls of the building are made of handcrafted compressed stabilized clay blocks (CSEB): it is not only a cheap and environmentally friendly material, but also requires a lot of labor to produce it, which made it possible to provide jobs for local residents. A kind of cornice crowning the building is formed by metal perforated panels of different shades of green.
If tuberculosis was a problem in Haiti even before the earthquake, then cholera appeared there after the disaster and very quickly spread throughout the country due to overcrowded life in refugee camps and general deterioration - or lack of - infrastructure, primarily water supply and sanitation. Therefore, the GHESKIO Cholera Treatment Center includes not only a hospital for 100 patients (65 with severe cases and 35 with moderate and mild cases), but also a water treatment center that supplies safe water to the hospital and purifies its waste water so that they do not mixed with groundwater and did not spread the infection further (the capacity of the center is 950,000 m3 of water per year). In addition, the building has a rainwater collection and treatment system with a capacity of 150,000 liters: if necessary, this amount stored in an underground cistern will be enough for a hospital for a week.
Sinks for hand washing and hand flush toilets are scattered throughout the building, as well as floor drains to remove water during cleaning. The perimeter corridor provides comfortable circulation for staff.
The zigzag profile of the roof creates natural ventilation; also high slopes made it possible to arrange windows in the upper part of the walls. Like the Tuberculosis Hospital, the Cholera Treatment Center is built with CSEB clay blocks; its facades are partially covered with perforated metal panels, also produced in Haiti. Such panels do not impede the flow of air, while at the same time hiding the chambers from prying eyes.
