Mohalla Clinic a Sustainable Healthcare Solution
Delhi-based Architecture firm Architecture Discipline has shown this vision towards sustainable healthcare through two prototype clinics installed as a part of the Mohalla clinic project.
Mohalla Clinics are primary health centers set up in the union territory of New Delhi in India. They offer a basic package of essential health services, including medicines, diagnostics, and consultation free of cost. The Delhi government inaugurated this project in 2015, and today many such clinics are serving millions of residents of Delhi.
The first prototype exhibited by Architecture Discipline was that of the Life Community Medical Facility (LifeCMF) — a modular health facility built from discarded shipping containers — at the London Design Biennale 2021. After restructuring their idea, the team approached the Delhi government with their proposal. The idea was then accepted as part of the Mohalla Clinics health initiative and financially supported by Tata Power-DDL.
The clinic is made by joining two 20-feet-long shipping containers forming a single healthcare facility, including an examination room, a reception and waiting area, a pharmacy accessible from outside, and a washroom. The examination room allows a single patient, and the waiting area can accommodate four to six people at once. The clinic is equipped to support health checks, testing, and purchase of medicines.
Currently constructed at Shakur Basti and Rani Bagh, these clinics aim to provide a compact, portable, sleek, and sustainable primary healthcare solution for neighborhoods in Delhi. Apart from being a well-structured space, the uniqueness of these healthcare facilities is in its sustainable design. These clinics also showcase innovative design for the greater good.
Akshat Bhatt, Principal Architect and Founder of Architecture Discipline, share with The New Indian Express, “We have been experimenting with using shipping containers as a building material for a long time. In the past, we have used it to create workspaces and even hotels — our own office has an extension made out of a repurposed shipping container. These clinics are a scaled-down version of LifeCMF, drawing on its central ideas of prefabrication, rapid deployability, and economic feasibility”. He further said, “We required containers of a certain standard of quality, which could be converted into treatment spaces. Hence, we limited our search to such units. These containers were then transformed into prefabricated clinics at a fabrication yard leased by Architecture Discipline, where they were installed with all necessary fixtures, services, and interior finishes. They also come pre-installed with in-built furniture providing seating and storage. Since we are using discarded shipping containers, these clinics also eliminate energy consumption and pollution caused due to new construction.”
The structures also have anti-microbial vinyl flooring and medical-grade stainless steel countertops that are easy to maintain. A layer of micron insulation has been added to the walls, making the clinics sound-proof and drastically improving their acoustic quality. The micron insulation consists of non-woven thermally bonded fiber, a non-flammable and hypoallergenic material, which reduces the heat absorption of the container, with the wood-lined interiors providing further protection from heat. The facility is lit with under-lighting strips and is cooled with air conditioners fitted with microfilters that contribute to a dust-free internal environment.
Another exciting feature is the assembly of these structures. The clinics can be deployed rapidly, taking up to 15 days for completion depending on the time taken for container procurement, site identification, and logistics. With complete prefabrication, this duration can even be brought down to two to three days.
Compared to traditional healthcare facilities, these clinics are perfect for remote spaces in urban settlements. The process of prefabrication takes only a few days to completion. The clinic’s mobile nature and small size allow it to be transported and deployed. This makes it ideal for use in remote regions and emergencies such as disaster and war-struck zones that may be inaccessible by road, as these clinics can be airlifted.
Based on user feedback of the first two clinics, future prototypes will be refined further and developed, Bhatt informs. They plan to scale this project and construct up to 500 units in the near future, widening the scope of restructuring the city’s healthcare infrastructure.
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