Security Forces Medical Complex

Covering a site of some 2.5 million m² with a built hospital area of around 491,000 m² (the equivalent of 49 football pitches), the new complex will offer no fewer than 1,248 hospital beds.

This vast scheme represents an effort by the Kingdom of Saudia Arabia (KSA)’s Ministry of Interior to tackle rising demand from Riyadh’s large and growing military community for health services.

We have been commissioned to provide fire and life safety, security risk management and facades services as well as acoustics and waste for the complex, which will also feature a wealth of other, mixed-use developments.

Moreover, as the construction is in its advanced stages, a near identical project will be rolled out in Jeddah by the same design and build team also including our structural engineering team. This will, in effect, create two ‘health cities’ within the KSA.

More than a single facility, the complex in Riyadh will deliver three distinct hospitals, including a main hospital, women and children’s hospital and a psychiatric hospital. Other developments on the site include a central main mosque, nursing school, sports facilities, retail and office buildings, utility areas, and over two thousand houses and apartments for medical staff, students and patients.

Rising to a maximum of 13-storeys, the hospital area of the complex will feature six helipads with four of these located on the roof of the main hospital building. Three of the four rooftop helipads will be sited on the Royal Wing – an area of the hospital reserved for the exclusive use of the royal family and their visitors.

The helipad areas have required special attention from our design team to guarantee that patient and staff safety will not be compromised due to helicopters refuelling nearby. Our experts are ‘designing-in’ enhanced levels of protection to the helipads and their surrounding area to negate any risk of fuel spillage and fire.

Another impact of helicopter travel near, and on, the hospitals is the need for high acoustic performance within the buildings. Our acoustics experts are developing bespoke solutions to ensure that patients and hospital staff will not be disturbed.

A further focus for our fire and security services team is the high level of protection required for the operating theatres across the three hospitals. These need to be designed to ensure that operations can continue throughout a fire and/or security incident without the occupants being disturbed.

When complete, this project and its Jeddah based, identical twin will offer modern, patient-centric healthcare on a grand-scale. Relieving pressure on existing medical facilities in these populous cities, the complexes will offer a new paradigm of healthcare in the Kingdom and the Middle East.