From Technical Assessment to Tender-Ready Design, Built for Clinical Operability
In conflict-impacted zones, health systems often become primary anchors for community resilience, while simultaneously remaining among the most vulnerable forms of infrastructure. When Homs Grand Hospital was conceived, it was planned as a six-block medical compound intended to serve not only the city of Homs but neighbouring regions as well.
The main structure was completed in 2011, but the hospital never became operational. Years of conflict damaged critical facilities, left equipment unavailable, and rendered large parts of the compound unusable for secondary healthcare delivery.Rather than attempting to rehabilitate the entire compound in a single phase, the intervention concentrated on a single annex, the Kidney Building. Its scale and configuration allowed secondary healthcare services to be restored through a contained, technically manageable scope, while laying the groundwork for broader recovery in the future.
The United Nations Office for Project Services (UNOPS) commissioned Engicon to provide detailed engineering and consulting services for the survey, assessment, and rehabilitation design of the Kidney Building at Homs Grand Hospital.
The assignment covered a full technical appraisal of the existing structure, followed by the preparation of coordinated, construction-ready designs intended to enable the annex to operate as a fully functional general hospital facility.
Project Context
Located in Homs, a city that has experienced prolonged infrastructure disruption, the Kidney Building is a two-storey annex with a basement, enclosing a gross floor area of approximately 4,748 square metres.
Before the intervention, the Building’s layout reflected an intended clinical programme, with spaces allocated for operating, imaging, outpatient care, and inpatient accommodation. However, the Building remained incomplete as a working facility, without the integrated structure, building services, and coordinated planning needed to support safe, reliable clinical operation.
The project was framed within a humanitarian recovery context, with the objective of strengthening public health system capacity.
The intervention was intended to enable secondary care services, particularly emergency, surgical, and renal treatment, while responding to the realities of operating in a post-conflict environment.
Scope
Engicon’s scope of work started with a full-condition survey and technical assessment of the Kidney Building, anchored by verification and, where necessary, reconstitution of As-Built drawings across disciplines. In parallel, Engicon undertook a detailed structural integrity assessment, geotechnical investigation, and topographic survey to validate rehabilitation feasibility, define load and intervention constraints, and establish an evidence-based foundation for coordinated design.
On that basis, Engicon was tasked with developing a holistic rehabilitation design across architectural, structural, mechanical, electrical, and medical planning disciplines.
The commission also included the detailed design of a solar PV hybrid energy system to strengthen operational resilience, together with an integrated medical waste management system compliant with applicable international standards. In addition to design delivery, Engicon prepared tender-ready documentation and provided technical support to UNOPS through procurement and implementation.
Design Focus
The rehabilitation strategy was developed to enable the Kidney Building to function as a self-contained general hospital, accommodating emergency services, operating theatres, inpatient wards, renal dialysis, diagnostic imaging, laboratories, and essential support facilities. Capacity was planned at approximately 38 beds, 34 beds for inpatient wards, and 4 beds for the ICU.
Given the operational constraints of the site, design decisions prioritised safety, adaptability, and sustainability. Structural verification under new medical and mechanical loads was a critical early step, informing both layout planning and system selection.
Energy resilience was addressed through the integration of a hybrid solar PV system combined with utility and generator supply, reducing dependence on fuel while ensuring continuity of care.
Medical waste management was treated as a core functional requirement rather than an auxiliary system. Dedicated facilities, equipment layouts, and operational protocols were incorporated into the design to support safe, compliant clinical operation from the outset.
Design Resolution
The project required engineering decisions to be made under conditions of limited access, incomplete records, and evolving site realities. Engicon’s approach relied on detailed field verification, close coordination with local stakeholders, and the use of locally available materials and systems where appropriate.
Risk management, particularly related to safety, access, and data reliability, was embedded throughout the survey and design process.
Through this targeted intervention, the Kidney Building was repositioned as a viable anchor for restoring secondary healthcare services in Homs, demonstrating how focused rehabilitation and disciplined engineering can unlock value from stalled infrastructure in complex recovery settings.
