Wuhan Hospital, China
Images of a timelapse were spread all over social media and news outlets in February 2020 as China built a new hospital facility in around 2 weeks 'from scratch'. News outlets reported that the facility has around a 1,000-bed capacity and was designed, procured and built-in this timescale.
It is more likely that the hospital facility is part of a larger state-run emergency action plan which has been sitting designed on a shelf especially for such an event after the last SARs virus outbreak in China.
Regardless if the modular unit construction or design is included in the timescale, it is still an amazing feat to build such a scale of off-site modular building in such a short space of time, and questions are now being asked about why this is not being implemented across the construction industry. The concept is not new, and the Egan Report and Latham report both attempted to resolve issues with wastage in the construction industry.
Further studies will no doubt be carried out on the back of these buildings construction timescales to see what lessons can be learned to improve construction timescales globally.
[edit] Related articles on Designing Buildings Wiki
- Cancer Centre at Guy's Hospital
- Conserving Ruchill Hospital water tower
- Fountaine Hospital Almshouse
- How a Complex Hospital Building for Orthopaedic Services was Constructed in Less Than Four Months
- How to Develop the Most Constrained Hospital Sites to Reduce Waiting Times and Improve Patient Care
- Khoo Teck Puat Hospital
- North Middlesex University Hospital Maternity Unit
- Researching the history of Fountaine Hospital Almshouse
- Sea Sand Tower Hospital Queen Elizabeth, Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia
Featured articles and news
Buildings that changed the future of architecture. Book review.
The Sustainability Pathfinder© Handbook
Built environment agency launches free Pathfinder© tool to help businesses progress sustainability strategies.
Government outcome to the late payment consultation, ECA reacts.
IHBC 2025 Gus Astley Student Award winners
Work on the role of hewing in UK historic conservation a win for Jack Parker of Oxford Brookes University.
Future Homes Building Standards and plug-in solar
Parts F and L amendments, the availability of solar panels and industry responses.
How later living housing can help solve the housing crisis
Unlocking homes, unlocking lives.
Preparing safety case reports for HRBs under the BSA
A new practical guide to preparing structural inputs for safety cases and safety case reports published by IStructE.
Male construction workers and prostate cancer
CIOB and Prostate Cancer UK encourage awareness of prostate cancer risks, and what to do about it.
The changed R&D tax landscape for Architects
Specialist gives a recap on tax changes for Research and Development, via the ACA newsletter.
Structured product data as a competitive advantage
NBS explain why accessible product data that works across digital systems is key.
Welsh retrofit workforce assessment
Welsh Government report confirms Wales faces major electrical skills shortage, warns ECA.
A now architectural practice looks back at its concept project for a sustainable oceanic settlement 25 years on.
Copyright and Artificial Intelligence
Government report and back track on copyright opt out for AI training but no clear preferred alternative as yet.
Embedding AI tools into architectural education
Beyond the render: LMU share how student led research is shaping the future of visualisation workflows.
Why document control still fails UK construction projects
A Chartered Quantity Surveyor explains what needs to change and how.
Inspiration for a new 2026 wave of Irish construction professionals.
New planning reforms and Warm Homes Bill
Take centre stage at UK Construction Week London.






















