SharpMinds Consulting Engineers has completed the design of Ain Alemarat, a specialist eye hospital in Abu Dhabi’s Shakhbout City. The hospital will be located in a former residential villa compound, which is being converted and renovated to meet the clinical, surgical, and operational needs of modern eye care.
Design and Features
The hospital will have over 3,700 square metres of built-up area, with more than 2,700 square metres of existing space being adapted and over 1,000 square metres of new construction and expansion. The design includes 15 ophthalmology consultation rooms, two treatment rooms, six dedicated optometry examination suites, and specialised diagnostic imaging.
The hospital will also feature four operating theatres, facilities for day surgery and recovery, and eight inpatient suites, including one high-dependency unit bed. SharpMinds’ design keeps the main residential structures and puts them to new use, adding targeted architectural and structural interventions where specialist healthcare standards call for them.
Construction and Timeline
Building work on the hospital is scheduled to start in the first quarter of 2027. SharpMinds ran the full design programme, which included architecture and interiors, medical planning, MEP design, and structural engineering, as well as tender management and handling authority approvals.
Amir H. Greiss, Founder and CEO of SharpMinds Consulting Engineers, said: “Ain Alemarat demonstrates how thoughtful design can transform existing buildings into highly specialised environments that respond to evolving community needs.” The hospital is intended to offer consultation, optometry, diagnostics, surgery, recovery, and inpatient care under one roof.
Several of the existing villas are being joined to operate as one hospital, with a layout that separates public, clinical, staff, and service zones. The design also includes a pharmacy, dedicated waiting lounges, a café, and other amenities. The exterior of the hospital features a single architectural identity, using stone-clad volumes, horizontal roof planes, sculptural elements, and vertical screens on the façades.
Deep overhangs, recessed glazing, and shaded terraces are designed to help cut solar heat gain, while landscaping and natural light will add to a welcoming, patient-centred setting. The converted buildings will also take specialist medical equipment and building services and meet infection control requirements.
