Mirebalais Hospital

Mirebalais Hospital
Nicholas Clark Architects
Mirebalais, Haiti
The hospital is being constructed in central Haiti.
Photo © Aric Mei

Mirebalais Hospital
Nicholas Clark Architects
Mirebalais, Haiti
The hospital’s director, Dr. David Walton, is overseeing construction. Walton works for Partners in Health, which is helping fund the $18 million project.
Photo © Aric Mei

Mirebalais Hospital
Nicholas Clark Architects
Mirebalais, Haiti
Completion is planned for 2012. Nicholas Clark Architects, a Chicago-based firm, designed the building.
Photo © Aric Mei

Mirebalais Hospital
Nicholas Clark Architects
Mirebalais, Haiti
The entrance fa'ade features decorative metalwork.
Photo © Aric Mei

Mirebalais Hospital
Nicholas Clark Architects
Mirebalais, Haiti
Artist Laurel True has created vibrant mosaic artwork for the facility.
Photo © Aric Mei

Mirebalais Hospital
Nicholas Clark Architects
Mirebalais, Haiti
The facility will serve as both a teaching institution and a national referral hospital.
Photo © Aric Mei

Nicholas Clark Architects

Mirebalais, Haiti

L’Ecole de Choix isn’t the only new project in town. Just up the road, a 180,000-square-foot hospital designed partly pro bono by Chicago-based Nicholas Clark Architects is slated to open this summer. Funded by Haiti’s Ministry of Public Health and the nonprofit group Partners In Health, the $16 million, 320-bed medical center will accept patients from around the country while also serving as a teaching facility. Modern health-care services will be provided within a pleasing setting: abundant windows, light-filled rooms, outdoor courtyards, and vibrant mosaics. Notes hospital director Dr. David Walton, “Part of the objective was to create a beautiful space.”

ARCHITECT: Nicholas Clark Architects.

BUDGET: $16 million.

CONTEXT: Facility will serve as a national referral hospital and teaching facility. Poverty and malnutrition are prevalent in Haiti, yet medical facilities are scarce.

Jenna M. McKnight is an award-winning journalist and RECORD's former news editor. She has held senior positions at print and online publications and writes regularly about architecture and design.