CUHK Medical Centre, located at Ma Liu Shui in Sha Tin District, is set to be the first non-profit, selffinancing, private teaching hospital in Hong Kong. Upon the completion of the construction, it aims to offer 516 inpatient beds, 28 operating rooms, 49 consultation rooms, 16 specialist medical centres as well as a 24-hour out-patient department. In addition to providing comprehensive healthcare services to the public, it will also serve as a key site for conducting clinical research, healthcare education and training. All profit will be used to support the long-term development of the hospital and research at the CUHK Faculty of Medicine. The project includes a fourteen-storey hospital building with a gross floor area of 10,000 cubic square metres. Construction work commenced in August 2016 and the Centre hopes to start operation in the first half of 2021.
As Hong Kong’s first main contractor to design and build a private hospital project, CSHK has been working closely with the design team, introducing multiple systems to achieve the smart hospital principle embedded in the project. In addition, CSHK has adopted various innovative construction technologies and digital management systems during the construction phase, enabling CUHK Medical Centre to become a leading example of Hong Kong’s innovative building practices.
CUHK Medical Centre strives to be developed into Hong Kong’s leading smart hospital. To achieve this, we have incorporated multiple smart hospital ideas at the design stage, to assist the hospital to serve the public in an innovative and intelligent way once it opens. When designing the hospital, we specifically incorporated designs to create a warm, comfortable and convenient healthcare environment for the public. Taking into consideration the fact that patients may feel nervous and anxious when being hospitalised in an unfamiliar environment, CSHK adopted the smart lightning system, enabling the brightness in the wards to automatically adjust based on the environment to simulate a naturally-lit environment, hoping to reduce patients’ nervousness and stress.
In addition, CSHK integrated vacuum pipeline conveying system, vertical box conveying system, used clothes transportation system and garbage collection system into a comprehensive three-dimensional internal materials transportation system with a clear division of functions. This is connected to different areas of the hospital to facilitate the movement of these different materials, making use of technology to enhance operational efficiency. At the same time, we intentionally reserved some space for the hospital to install smart systems when designing the building, including automatic dispensary system, geographical information and route search system, etc., to open up more opportunities for the further development of smart features in the hospital.
CSHK attaches importance to the environmental impact brought by buildings during their operation, hence, we have adopted various green construction technologies, including:
External shading technologyExternal shading can effectively reduce the amount of solar radiation entering the building, thus, lowering the indoor temperature and saving energy. This project uses glass with low overall thermal transfer value (“OTTV”) for the exterior of the building to achieve the shading effect.
The project installed solar panels on the rooftop to convert solar energy collected during the daytime into heat, which will help to supply hot water to the hospital and thereby reduce energy use.
CSHK integrated various innovative technologies and informatised management systems throughout the project construction, using high-end technological platforms to manage the progress in different stages of construction. We introduced domestically and internationally developed informatised management systems in BIM, construction management and operations procedural management respectively to assist construction.
Building information managementThis project used BIM to integrate all construction models and simulate structural construction zoning and life cycle, as well as to conduct collision detection and space detection to lower the risk of design conflicts. It has also successfully eliminated nearly 10,000 spatial design conflicts with BIM’s technology. In addition, the project used BIM to automatically calculate the amount of cement, moulds, plastering, hardware and cleaning tools used. This shortened the time needed to complete the calculations from one month for manual calculation to one day, greatly enhancing the project’s efficiency. In addition, we adopted VR technology to simulate the early stages of project design, construction and control, achieving visualised control of project management.
Construction managementThis project introduced the smart inspection system, using mobile internet to integrate with project management. It recorded and managed various aspects of work, such as project progress, safety, materials and quality, and can synchronise with mobile phones and tablets to facilitate the responsible personnel to follow up. Currently, the smart inspection system has recorded and dealt with nearly 30,000 issues in the project. During the construction phase, we adopted remote image monitoring systems, using high-resolution video cameras to record construction progress from multiple angles during different stages of the projects. This allowed us to remotely monitor the construction work.
Process managementThis project adopted Aconex and H3 systems to share information, such as design drawings and project documents, with all participating units through online platforms. In addition, CDMS and CCMS systems are CSHK’s engineering management systems which help to enhance the project’s performance relating to construction site materials, contractor management and worker management.
