Cleveland Clinic

With the goal of providing multidisciplinary care to citizens of the Abu Dhabi region, the Cleveland Clinic is one of the world’s most advanced medical centres. Comprised of 8 buildings, 7,535 rooms, 25 operating theatres, 342 consulting rooms and a three-storey car park, the hospital is equipped with cutting-edge infrastructure and state-of-the-art technology. This world-class medical facility bears impressive technical features such as interior walls being USG gypsum partitions, UL certified doors and high level finishes. The 400,000 m²+ structure itself, inspired by Middle Eastern urban planning adheres with recently-established environmental criteria and is Gold certified by the American LEED accreditation scheme, with a target of 75% waste recycling and the elimination of dust in every construction stage.

Whereas most hospitals tend to be developed along a vertical axis, the Cleveland Clinic is spread over a large area on 2 main levels, above (medical services and patient rooms) and below (parking and main utilities) an artificial elevated platform. The implementation of the project involved over 500 engineers and architects, 100 subcontractors and 15,000 construction workers to complete, and logistics was complex due to both the hospital’s layout, external works and the downtown location. With so many collaborators, data sharing processes, procedures and hardware needs, IT requirements were enormous in scope. Finally, the hospital had to be built according to strict specifications and standards in eco construction.

With over 50 years of experience with large-scale projects and an excellent reputation in the Middle East, BESIX was chosen as general contractor. Valued at over EUR 1.2 billion, the completed Cleveland Clinic features 230,000 m³ of concrete and 35,000 tons of structural steel. The hospital complex sprawls horizontally along the seafront of Al Maryah Island, with the main and satellite buildings glass-decked and a maximum of 22 storeys in height. As a LEED Gold-rated building, the hospital recycles 75% of its waste and was constructed without generating any dust. It also holds a Four Pearl rating from the Abu Dhabi Urban Planning Council for intelligent, green construction.