New Acute Hospital in Kai Tak Development

In a 2013 policy address, the government of Hong Kong announced its intention to deal with the increasing demand for medical facilities from its population and formulate a clinical services plan to map out the future service development of a variety of hospital clusters. In 2016, it followed this with the allocation of HK$200bn to implement a 10-year hospital development plan that would seek to provide more than 6,000 beds and 94 operating theatres, and increase the capacity of specialist and general outpatient clinics across the city.

Location

Hong Kong

Client

Hospital Authority of Hong Kong

Project Status

Tentative 2026

Architect

Wong Tung & Partners Limited / HOK (healthcare planning)

The right team, comprehensive planning and close communication with the stakeholders were the key elements for success in this project

Ricky Cheung Technical Director, WSP in Asia

Photo Credit: WONG TUNG & PARTNERS LIMITED

The construction of a new acute care hospital in the Kowloon Central Cluster was among the projects instigated as part of these plans. The idea is for this to provide a comprehensive range of services, including accident and emergency facilities, neuroscience services, a trauma centre and an oncology unit. In-patient, out-patient and ambulatory services would also be included, and these would provide support to the adjacent Hong Kong Children’s Hospital.

WSP, which has a track record in healthcare in Hong Kong, was appointed as the building services engineer through an open tender in 2017. Drawing on both local experience and the expertise of its global team, it designed a hospital that provides the highest standards of service and technology, incorporating the most up-to-date contemporary models of care, as well as allowing flexibility for future changes, such as expandible isolation facilities to cope with pandemics and digitisation to enable automation. Crucial to this was WSP’s close collaboration with multiple stakeholders, including the client, hospital users, the facilities management team, ICT specialists, government authorities and utility companies, to achieve consensus. The firm is working on eight other hospital projects under the Hong Kong government’s 10-year plan, so it was able to pull together information from across the board to feed into this scheme. The project is set to be completed and handed over to the client by 2026.