The First Affiliated Hospital Zhejiang University School of Medicine

OSRAM / Traxon e:cue lighting technology breathes life into the new headquarters of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine.

Established in 1947, the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine is a domestically and globally leading comprehensive grade-A tertiary hospital located in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province. Aiming to become a global benchmark for smart hospitals, the new headquarters was completed in 2020 in Yuhang District, Hangzhou. It is committed to becoming a modern hospital with international standing and a forward-looking view, and reshaping medical treatment with a patient-centered multidisciplinary diagnosis approach and process. 

The hospital’s new headquarters covers a land area of 244,000 square meters and a built-up area of 720,000 square meters. A sky corridor links the main building to the Zhejiang University Medical Research Center, forming a seamless connection between clinical practice and research. The main building is a 4-storey outpatient complex, with a central corridor running across each floor connecting various medical units like a healthcare walkway. This approach enables patients to complete registration, diagnosis, general inspection and laboratory test all at once, giving them a true patient-centered, one-stop service.

Exterior lighting: let the building breathe with life

Given that the project positioned as a medical complex, Zhejiang Province Institute of Architectural Design and Research, Hangzhou Teyouxin Industrial Co., Ltd. and OSRAM jointly created a lighting scheme to “let the building breathe with life”. The design leaned towards functional lighting, with exterior landscape lighting as a complement to accentuate architectural features. Warm white was decided as the dominant tone, while the dynamic effects were reduced to constant-on or low-frequency brightness changes, alternating light and shadow to echo with the theme “breathing”.

The façade, illuminated by OSRAM 3000K LED floodlights, offers a warm and pleasant ambience which is conducive to anxiety relief. The LED lights, concealed in the ground, illuminate upwards to cast a passionate flame-like radiance all over the walls, manifesting a sense of grandness. The concealed installation further allows the construction’s safety and aesthetics to remain intact. The ARCHISHAPE® 2.0 Dot, integrated into the brackets as part of the structure, gives the sky corridor a starry glow from the inside out, simply yet elegant.

As for other exterior areas, OSRAM LED Washer and the ARCHISHAPE® 2.0 Linear Mini have been positioned outside the ward windows, aiming to illuminate half of the structure to accentuate building features. To guarantee the sleep of patients at night, the LED fixtures lighting angles were restricted to 30 degree and paired with cover lenses to prevent light spill. Altogether the lighting scheme eventually enables the façade to alternate light and shadow quietly, as if the building could inhale and exhale.

OSRAM customized LED Ribbon have been widely applied in the landscape of the public plaza, exquisitely outlining lawns, stairs, walkways, bridges and handrails etc. The LED Ribbon lights output sufficient brightness to guarantee walkability at night, and establish a minimalist and elegant style using a low-profile 3000K without overwhelming passers-by.

Interior lighting: put the experience of medical staff and patients first

As a comprehensive building body integrating various functions, a hospital’s interior lighting could be complicated and varied as it must take into account the lighting quality (incl. color temperature, color rendering and glare control etc.), the area’s functionality and requirements as well as external factors like daylight conditions.

In public areas and operation sections, medical personnel and visitors require a clean and sometimes sterile environment. OSRAM LED panels, ribbon, batten and dots were customized to flood through the complex’s public areas with white. Lighting angles have been adjusted based on the analysis of daylight conditions, eliminating uneven lighting and visual fatigue. Downlights and track lights serve as supplementary lighting in areas that require additional illuminance. Through precise optical processing, the devices ultimately provide the hospital with refreshing and human-friendly interior lighting, vitalizing the entire complex including the lobby and corridors, waiting areas, duty rooms, nurse stations, OR, pharmacy, outpatient rooms and laboratories etc.

In hybrid areas such as wards and CT, in addition to adequate lighting for staff to provide treatment and care, a soothing and relaxed ambience is also demanded. OSRAM LED panels were chosen to be the main lighting source for such areas, fitted with cover lenses to control glare. Direct light was also avoided to prevent glare to patients’ eyes. In-between areas (such as walkways) are equipped with OSRAM LEDCOMFO® downlights to ensure lighting for operations.

Utilizing a variety of lighting devices, the project team delivered the right lighting for the new headquarters of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine. Bright and uniform lighting creates a clean and sterile environment which is conducive to the patient’s recovery, while a pleasant ambience helps ease an anxious mind and facilitate the treatment process.

“To build a future-oriented hospital with international standing, a modern lighting scheme must be in place. Challenges occurred many times during the process where national guidelines for the prevention and control of nosocomial infections as well as building energy efficiency must be met, the right brightness and color temperature must be provided, and the experience of medical personnel and patient must be guaranteed,” explained Charles Han, China Sales Head of OSRAM Traxon e:cue, “To be patient-center is the hospital’s core value, as well as the principle of our lighting scheme. We feel so proud to enable the new headquarters of the First Affiliated Hospital, Zhejiang University School of Medicine to open. This is yet another demonstration of OSRAM’s advanced lighting technology, and our mission of unlocking the potentials of light to improve people’s lives.”