General Information

 Building Name EKA KOTEBA GENERAL HOSPITAL

 Building Location: Country ETHIOPIA City ADDIS ABABA Sub city YEKA SUB CITY
2 2
 Project size (m ): Built Area 4871m Free Area 14174m2
 Building/Project Type
 Owner Ministry of Health
 Building architect/ Project Team

Description

The EKA KOTEBE GENERAL HOSPITAL is found in ADDIS ABABA, YEKA sub-city Woreda 12. Ii was
established to provide a medical & psychiatric illness treatment. The hospital is covered an area of
1.9 ha or 19045m2 with an expansion site. The hospital is divided into two departments,
psychiatric & medical, psychiatric treatment service provided in G+4 building & medical
treatments provided in a G+5 building.

The Psychiatric department covers 1.6ha (10633m 2) include free space. The hospital is completed
in 2019 in E.C but it provide a medical service since 2017 to auspicious st. AMANUEL Mental
Specialized Hospital with a 350 health professional & 174 support staff. The Psychiatric
department is designed to offer a health care inpatient (Residential Rehabilitation center) service
for 121 beds & 28,624 outpatients service annually. However, the pandemic of COVID 19 disrupt
the service & the hospital was completely changed to a recovery center to the pandemic. So at
this time the hospital administration is engaged to give the service again with 21 inpatient bed for
men & 8 bed for women.
The site of the hospital found in the fringe zone far away from the center, but it found in the
community or residential area that's good for to give the services to the community. The building
length is greater in 10m from the width side that's oriented in the south direction to receive the
most time daylight in the season of autumn & winter. So the orientation of the building is good.
At current estimation Ethiopia has 105 millions people. It is estimated about 25 millions people
are suffering some form of mental disorder, while less than of 10 percent of receive any form of
Psychiatric treatment. Psychiatric professionals are scarce in Ethiopia: there are less than of 300
psychiatrist, yielding 1 Psychiatrist for 350,000 peoples.
In the city of ADDIS ABABA only one governmental psychiatric hospital are there in & some private
psychiatric clinics before this general hospital was constructed. As I described earlier, the
accessibility of psychiatric hospital is low, so the goal of the project are to maximizing the
accessibility of psychiatric hospital in the city.
The hospital security & safety for the medical department as a all is good, but when it comes to
psychiatric department & building, it is bad because the standard of psychiatric hospital building
code is only allow to build in the ground & sometimes with precaution it permit adding some story
based on the context of of the country(site). based on the information I gather there was 3 suicide
occurred in the residential rehabilitation inpatient ward.
The sustainability of the hospital in the context of Ethiopia isn't bad at all when it seen a crudity.
The sustainability of the project is measured based on the three aspects which are environmental,
social & economical. This project of psychiatric department suitable for the for the environment,
acceptable in the society & cost-effective comparing with general hospitals.
The functional goal of the project is to provide a medical & psychiatric treatment in the city, but
the form & height of the building isn't suitable for a psychiatric treatment center.
The hospital is located in the direction of North-East to provide the service to the community of
that region & also for all referral applies. The accessibility of the hospital at this time is low
comparing when it works in a full capacity.
The standard that permit psychiatric building to build in a residential form & height to create a
familiar condition the center, but the form of the building is an institutional type which oppose
the standards, the aesthetic value of the building in-terms of color used is not advisable for
psychiatric treatment center because of Grey can pull the feeling of depression.

OSTRA PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL APALACHEE CENTER

EKA KOEBA GENERAL HOSPITAL was built into two department, the first one general & the second
one specialized hospital, specialized hospital comparing to general based on cost-effective is
preeminence. EKA KOTEBA have a general department gives medical & specialized one gives
psychiatric treatment. EKA KOTEBA is merging a general & specialized services at once.

Environment & Microclimate

The hospital is located in the north-east direction of Addis Ababa. As we know in winter & autumn
the sun is rises in the east & travels in the south of it. In summer & spring it travels in the north
direction. The orientation of the building is considering of this position the long part of the
building is oriented to gain a daylight with a harsh sun at both side when the sun shifted from
south to north. To eliminate the effect of harsh sun the contractor uses HCB as a wall & temper on
impact resistance colored glazed window. As a roof material to protect the sound of rain in
summer season they uses a concrete RC slab.

User Behaviors & Requirements

There are different types of wards & rooms that has a specific requirements floor area.

Form & Function

The principle of designing this building is form follow function, that means the building is designed
to to create a useful utilitarian facility to the service provider, neglecting the form of the building
what it is resembles a psychiatric treatment building. As I mention earlier the building located in
the fringe (peripheral) zone, in this zone there are a less service providers, mixed use buildings &
most of the spaces are held by residences. The form of the building is not quarrel with with the
environment (residences, spaces, service provider Bld.)
 Horizontal & Vertical Circulation
The vertical circulation in the psychiatric department building has one staircase & one emergency
stair without elevator. But the emergency stair covered by a hard screening material because of
the administration of the building determining usefulness of emergency stair for psychiatric
patients hardly ever for the patients aren’t aware or conscious to use the stair & also the width of
the stair is less than of that expected.
In the horizontal circulation the corridor are a 2 meter wide, it is small comparing what it is
expected, the lobbies are look alike a way that takes from a wide fortified to a cave comparing to
the corridor to a 2 meter corridor, the waiting area are in good span compassion with lobby &
corridor.
 Site Planning & Land-Spacing

The landscape of the project which the building constructed hadn’t any drainage difficulties
because of the planned residences & the efficiency topography slop. The structure of the building
& the cognate (linked) works are oriented or centred to the topography of land.

Structural details such as Columns & beams

The structure details of the building whereas column, beam beam was constructed compatible
with the building story (height). The roofing system was constructed by RC slab with water
proofing material. The columns are a various in size such as, 60cm by 60cm, 40cm by 50cm &
30cm by 40cm.

Building Services
The department of psychiatric building should expected to have a more number of patients
(outpatients & outpatient) comparing with the staff. Most of the patients are unaware or
unconsciousness of the accidents to escape from it. There is fire alarm system are setup in the
ceiling. There is no HVAC system to cooling the spaces when the winter seasons circles.
 Design Detailing Considering The Barriers Free Environment

Like most of our cities building, it lacks compatibility or accessibility for a disabled peoples. It has a
ramp to elevate the patients get into lobby but it loss elevator to the higher stories. The corridors
have difficulties in width if two bariatric patients are passing though it gets stuck. The edges of the
wall aren’t treated to reduce harming of the patient them selves.

Ventilation
The ventilation of the building aren’t sufficient in the case of safety & security. Most of the
windows are closed& there isn’t HVAC system installed, but in some Doctors consulting rooms
there are two doors; one from the corridor which patients enter & the second one the doctor to
walking to the other section. So this time it will be ventilated unless it will be compressed air.
 Lighting System
The model of the building are prism which have a hole(void space) in the center of it. Natural light
in room are adequate. But in corridors it is not enough to lighten the spaces so they uses artificial
light to accommodate the inquire of lights. The importance of daylight in the psychiatric hospital
isn’t questionable, it can give the benefit of increasing the mode of recovery from depression, so
the building lacks natural lighting in some space. It can elevate the cost of electricity.

Sound & Noise

The first criteria for a Psychiatric Hospital is a tolerable design which bear sounds & noises from
indoor & outdoor spaces. The structure of the buildings are able to prevent sound & noises to
distract some attention. The wall are HCB which prevent a sound intensity of to 50 db (decibel),
that means it is preferable to prevent sounds in this spaces except in the emergency room.
Patients in the emergency room are a tempered, noisy & aggressive whose disturb the neighbour
room, so emergency room lack a sound absorbent material.

Security & Safety

The security of the building are bad in term of the feeling of the patients , in each block there is a
security officer (warden) which control the movement of the patients. This type of security will
leads to the progress of the patient recovery slow because the patients consider themselves they
are in control by others or they are in prison. Instead of security warden it is prefer to use a CCTV
camera installed secretly.
In the building of psychiatric department every section of it need to treated in a save way from
the wall to the furniture, the advisable wall type is gypsum board but they use HCB, using instead
light material that doesn’t hurt the patient they use steel material in the furniture some part of
the building space which the patients access like terrace aren’t treated well with a handrill.
 Color

Color in a Psychiatric department plays a significant role to treat the patients. The advisable colors
to use in a psychiatric health center are residential type color or warm color merging with
soothing color like purple & blue that enhance to reduce the emotion of aggressiveness & temper.
The color in the building of psychiatric department are Grey on the base & white above the base
in the interior of the rooms & only Grey on the exterior part of the building. This type color will
affect the mode of the patients into depression.

Socioeconomic Profile Of User Group

Mr. Bekel who was the head of Psychiatric department in the EKA KOTEBA GENERAL HOSPITAL
told me that the profile of the people whom using this services are homeless , haven’t any close
relatives to care or inquire about them. If they had any relatives they shouldn’t check their health
after they throw into the hospital. From this indication the society consider the illness wouldn’t be
unrefined (raw) & the also there is a cost of living is expensive to inquire the patients in the
hospital.

Parking Details & Standard

I didn’t expect like this project would loss a parking area in adequate extent whether indoor or
outdoor spaces. There is a little area reserved for higher officials & emergency parking in the
hospital in-front of the entrance. It doesn’t have a symbol or any signage how many vehicles are
parked. There is a no basement in the department of medicals for parking but in the department
of psychiatric it has one basement providing the service of secultion room ( isolation room) for
tempered, aggressive mental patients. The Architect who design this hospital didn’t assume the
hospital is deserving sufficient parking area.
Project Result
When I just engaged to the ( choose to designing a psychiatric hospital ), I was hopefully gone to
gather information from the relevant organization that I prefer from others & my advisor sent me
with a supportive letters. But the stake holders which should give us the information wasn’t even
unaware of which section & responsibility for to answer our question, so the bureaucracy is
improper.