Nahariya Emergency Medicine Wing

The Western Galilee Hospital in Nahariya, is the primary hospital in the northern part of Israel. Close to the border with Lebanon, it has endured the ravages of war and served as a battle zone trauma center. The new, 50,000 sq. ft. Emergency Medicine Wing was designed with the impacts of war in mind.

The architect, Yuval Geni, describes it as a fully protected and sheltered facility that can perform under extreme emergency conditions, including missiles strikes, atomic, biological and chemical attacks. The new wing includes surgical and internal medicine facilities, with units for trauma, pediatrics and obstetrics.

For security reasons the facility has no windows and skylights, yet the need to create a patient friendly and environmentally integrated space remained a priority within the security constraints. The architect turned to Sky Factory Luminous SkyCeilings and Luminous Virtual Windows to provide the missing connections to the outside and to nature.

Seventy-one Sky Factory virtual skylights and sixty virtual windows are installed in patient, staff, and public spaces throughout the buildings. These sophisticated illusions of nature serve as biophilic triggers for the soothing influence of views to nature. In what has been described as “an above ground submarine,” the presence of realistic sky- and landscape views are important elements contributing to a stress-relieving and healing environment for patients, as well as staff and visitors.