The RIBA awards committee have recognised the achievement of Rural Urban Framework for their ambitious plan for Angdong Hospital in Baojing County, China, announcing them as winners of the first RIBA International Emerging Architect prize. The Awards committee have presented the prize to project directors John Lin and Joshua Bolchover, who set up their research and design collaborative in 2005 as a non-profit organisation providing important design services to charities and NGOs working in China. Rural healthcare in China currently faces a multitude of challenges and rural institutions are generally unfavourable compared to those in urban locales. Rural Urban Framework set out to develop a model rural healthcare building, capable of supporting the many progressive reforms on rural hospital management and care giving. This included providing basic necessities absent in current establishments, some as simple as waiting rooms offering both traditional Chinese together with western medicine.
Image courtesy of Rural Urban Framework.
