Renzo Piano designs pediatric surgery center for Emergency in Uganda

Renzo Piano has designed a pediatric surgery center for Emergency in Entebbe, Uganda, marking his first project in Africa. The center, called the Centre of Excellence in Pediatric Surgery, will be built on the shores of Lake Victoria, 35 km from Kampala. Piano collaborated with TAMassociati, which led the Italian Pavilion at the 2016 Venice Architecture Biennale. The hospital will use pisé (rammed earth) construction for natural temperature and humidity control, and will be powered by about 2,600 solar panels from Enel Green Power. It will have three operating rooms and 78 beds, plus a training center for young doctors and nurses from Uganda and surrounding regions. The project is the second step of Emergency's "Healthcare Network of Excellence in Africa," following the Salam Centre for Cardiac Surgery in Khartoum, Sudan. The foundation stone was laid on February 10, 2017, with Gino Strada, President Yoweri Museveni, and Health Minister Jane Ruth Aceng in attendance. Gino Strada highlighted the dire local health situation, where under-5 mortality is 138 per 1,000 live births, and called for action to save millions of children lacking access to medical care.