Akita City General Hospital Receives the 2025 Healthcare and Welfare Architecture Award

Kume Sekkei Co., Ltd. (Headquarters: 2-1-22 Shiomi, Koto-ku, Tokyo) is pleased to announce that the "Akita City General Hospital," which we designed, has received the 2025 Healthcare and Welfare Architecture Award.

Healthcare and Welfare Architecture Award

https://www.jiha.jp/awards/architectureaward/

Akita City General Hospital

[Designer's Comment]

This project was a long-term endeavor spanning approximately eight years, from selection via proposal to design, construction, demolition of the existing hospital, and site development. As we also designed the previous hospital building, we sought to inherit the history of supporting regional healthcare while planning a municipal hospital in Akita Prefecture—which faces the most advanced aging population in Japan—to explore the ideal medical space for the elderly in a super-aging society.

Construction took place during the unprecedented COVID-19 pandemic. By having our designers stationed on-site and engaging in continuous dialogue with hospital staff, we were able to implement operational improvements on the ground. Specifically, features such as the introduction of nurse corners independent from the main staff station and patient rooms equipped with toilets accessible directly from the bed were verified repeatedly through model rooms and refined through our collaboration with the staff. Since operations began, these designs have led to increased efficiency in nursing workflows, more time spent by the patient's side, and concrete results such as reductions in physical restraint rates, estimated pressure ulcer incidence, and fall/tumble rates.

The Healthcare and Welfare Architecture Award evaluates projects based on actual operation without the designers present for on-site inspections. We are delighted that Akita City General Hospital was recognized, as we view this as an award shared with the hospital staff who have mastered the use of this architecture through their daily operations. We would like to express our sincere gratitude to everyone at Akita City General Hospital, the construction team, and all those involved in this project for their understanding and cooperation.

[Building Overview]

Name: Akita City General Hospital

Location: 4-30 Kawamoto Matsuoka-cho, Akita City, Akita Prefecture

Client: Akita City General Hospital (Local Independent Administrative Agency)

Designer: Kume Sekkei Co., Ltd.

Contractor: Shimizu, Sasaki, Hase-Koma, Ugo, Nunotani Construction Joint Venture

Total Floor Area: 35,427.15㎡

Number of Floors: 13 floors above ground

Structure: SRC, RC

Completion: 2022/09/30

Award: Healthcare and Welfare Architecture Award

[Design Concept]

A New Model for Medical Spaces in Municipal Hospitals Facing an Aging Population

This was a reconstruction project on the existing site for a 396-bed municipal hospital that had become aged and cramped. In Akita Prefecture, which has the most advanced aging population in Japan, we aimed to create a future-oriented acute care hospital that balances high-quality medical care with economic efficiency in anticipation of the region's super-aging future.