Performance iN Lighting and Emergency: excellent healthcare in Uganda

A strikingly beautiful hospital. Gino Strada, founder of Emergency, asked architect Renzo Piano to give Ugandan children the same excellence we would like here in Italy for our own children. The project developed by the Renzo Piano Building Workshop (RPBW), in collaboration with TAMassociati and Emergency's technical office, is a rational, modern architecture that is at the same time firmly rooted in local traditions. Given its particular geographical location – we are in Entebbe, 35 km from the capital, Kampala – the design team developed solutions combining availability of resources, simplicity of construction and durability. In these contexts, sustainability also means making construction techniques replicable and implementable by the local population. One of the project partners is Performance iN Lighting, which has provided its products and expertise to develop a lighting design that, given the specific requirements, combines durability and energy saving.

The lighting system was developed jointly by Performance iN Lighting, Emergency and TAMassociati right from the planning stage. The main requirements were for reliable, high-performance, easy-to-install and low-maintenance products. The chosen products do not require highly specialised labour in case of intervention (for failures or malfunctions).  Practicality and performance are prioritised, and a small number of luminaires are selected from Performance iN Lighting's wide range of products to suit the variety of situations in the hospital, from operating theatres to offices, from surgeries to warehouses. LED lighting provides the option of dimming the luminous flux gradually, without flickering and without sudden interruptions as with conventional light sources. This optimises the lighting comfort of every room.

Thanks to the collaboration between the designers and the company, the result is excellent: the artificial lighting helps to create a feeling of well-being for the patients and to promote the concentration and efficiency of the medical staff. "It's in front of the lake, at an altitude of 1,200 metres, so it's a healthy place in itself, surrounded by greenery, and it really does have all the characteristics to be able to provide the curative beauty you look for in a hospital", says Giorgio Grandi, architect and project leader for the Ugandan hospital, former partner and now fellow at RPBW. This beauty also comes from the perfect harmony created between interior and exterior spaces, and between natural and artificial light.