National University Hospital Singapore Concept Design
National University Hospital Singapore Concept Design
Client:
Ministry of Health Holdings
Location:
Kent Ridge, Singapore
Collaborators:
B+H Architects,
CIAP Architects
Status:
Completed 2025 (Concept)
Contact Person:
Bruce Crook
Designed in collaboration with CIAP and B+H Architects, Architectus’ proposal for the new National University Hospital (NUH) in Singapore is a hospital for the future.
The vertical, biophilic design weaves advanced clinical care with teaching and research.
Embedded within the revitalised National University of Singapore campus, the innovative podium and tower design broadens views, improves efficiencies and connects patients and healthcare workers to nature.
Biophilic care
Informed by salutogenic principles, the hospital’s design promotes both physical and mental wellbeing through healing environments.
The people-scaled terraced podium, inspired by traditional Singaporean shop houses, creates a welcoming arrival experience.
Inside, natural light and harmonious materials ensure visitors feel reassured and comfortable.
Above, the tower model creates expansive view lines across all levels to connect users to greenery and distant landmarks.
A healing pavilion connects patients and healthcare workers with nature across a vast, therapeutic rooftop garden.
A health and learning ecosystem
The hospital integrates with academic, research and community health to facilitate interdisciplinary collaboration across a health and learning ecosystem.
At the campus scale, the podium and clinical towers are interconnected with key neighbouring facilities, including the Medical and Cancer Centres, National Children’s Institute, and Centre for Oral Health via elevated bridges.
At ground level, a reconfigured plaza addresses the Kent Ridge metro station with generous, landscaped public space designed to host seasonal markets, play spaces, and shaded rest areas.
Responding to the campus’s complex topography, a user-friendly pedestrian spine connects this public realm to core hospital functions and neighbouring university and medical buildings.
Efficient planning and wayfinding
Thoughtful planning and intuitive wayfinding bring clarity and connection to the entire campus.
Separate paths for private, emergency and logistics vehicles ensure smooth and effective day-to-day operation.
Inside the hospital, the vertical transportation strategy introduces distinct podium and tower cores to improve clinical flow by separating key pathways.
Medical specialties, patient, staff and logistic flows are clustered vertically throughout the building. This creates a gradient from low acuity spaces to critical care.
Designed to adapt
Anticipating changes in healthcare practices and technology, the modular proposal incorporates strategies to accommodate future expansion while maintaining operational continuity.
Innovatively, all wards share a universal footprint that allows flexibility for future changes in ward types, acuity, and evolving models of care.
Surgical services, including operating theatres, are consolidated on a single floor, built on a modular, repeatable template. Adjacent shell spaces and white zones are embedded for seamless future expansion.
Designed for Singapore’s climate
The proposal includes a combination of passive and active design strategies to reduce the hospital’s operational carbon footprint.
Vertical fins and horizontal floor edges form a protective façade that reduces solar heat gain and deflects tropical rain.
The building’s landscaped terraces and green facades mitigate heat island effect while cooling the precinct’s microclimate.
The towers’ north-south orientation also enables natural ventilation from Singapore’s prevailing winds to the ward levels, reducing mechanical ventilation requirements.
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Client:
Ministry of Health Holdings
Location:
Kent Ridge, Singapore
Collaborators:
B+H Architects,
CIAP Architects
Status:
Completed 2025 (Concept)
Contact Person:
Bruce Crook
