San Francisco, Calif. — Scheduled for completion in 2011, the new Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi (CCAD) Hospital, United Arab Emirates, is a 360-bed hospital and clinic located on Al Sowa Island, adjacent to the new Abu Dhabi Stock Exchange.

Designed by HDR Architecture, Inc., plentiful indoor and outdoor spaces are purposefully designed to offer healing environments, gathering spaces and wayfinding. With the inclusion of soothing water features, the expansive gardens not only allow occupants to experience the tranquility of the site, but create places that build a sense of community within the setting by fostering human interaction.

According to HDR, the architecture adheres to stringent sustainability guidelines with the promise of achieving LEED Gold certification despite the climate’s harsh challenges. “A dual curtain wall design serves as a kind of ‘respiratory system’ for the building,” describes Alexander Wu, design director. “Air is circulated between the glass walls to insulate the building from the climate, helping to significantly reduce the building’s cooling load. Other sustainable design features include the use of photovoltaics to relieve electrical loads and the reuse of gray water and storm water to reduce dependency on desalinated water.”

Visit www.hdrinc.com for more information.