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Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - DUBAI: French architecture firm Unanime has begun expanding its healthcare operations in Saudi Arabia and internationally.

The company has four subsidiaries dedicated to architecture, interior design and healthcare.

“We are expanding internationally through healthcare initiatives steered by Unanime-Golf. The entity plays a key role in promoting and developing Unanime’s healthcare projects abroad,” Pierre Sfeir, partner at Unanime, told Arab News en Francais.

Unanime’s healthcare subsidiary, UNHI, will leverage the group’s expertise for state-of-the-art medical infrastructure projects in several countries, including in the Gulf region.

The focus is on human well-being and user experience, while meeting the requirements of local regulations, said Sfeir.

Founded in Lyon in 1994, Unanime Architectes moved to Paris in 2001, and established its first Gulf office, in Bahrain, in 2011.

“We have added an office in the Alps region and soon in Riyadh, to cope with the growing demand and the specialties and expertise we offer as an architectural firm,” said Sfeir.

Unanime collaborates with local players, including NEOM, in Saudi Arabia.

“We have delivered a project to NEOM, and other projects are underway in Riyadh. The goal is to open an office in Riyadh with around 15 to 20 architects and engineers,” he added.

The healthcare project for NEOM was designed in a month and delivered in in six months.

“Usually, projects delivered to hospitals are the longest projects to execute, and we were able to do it in such a short time,” said Sfeir.

Unanime is also leading a project for the Prince Sultan Cardiac Excellence Center in Riyadh. The state-of-the-art cardiology project is integrating artificial intelligence and robotics, and includes building management.

“Today we are introducing artificial intelligence into something that needs improvement: health and well-being. Artificial intelligence is the future. Having these technologies in the region will make the cardiology center in Riyadh one of the best in Asia and the Middle East,” he said.

He added that Riyadh offers architects from around the world the opportunity to conduct projects in various sectors, including healthcare, retail and education.

“We are fortunate to be in Riyadh. There is a shift in the strategy of Saudi Arabia in general, and Riyadh in particular, to become the most advanced city in the region, if not in the world,” he added.

“The environment is business-friendly, the projects are very interesting and motivating for us as architects, giving us the opportunity to be creative, to be innovative and to bring something new to the market that didn’t exist before, which could be like breakthrough in certain areas of architecture, especially in terms of AI applications,” he said.

Sfeir said the projects are in line with the Kingdom’s Vision 2030 which calls for the development of various sectors of the economy.

“It is important to establish a very good system of research centers, universities, and experts to lead the changes that the Kingdom is undertaking,” Sfeir said.

Unanime participates regularly in conferences that connect architects from Saudi Arabia and France.

“I think what is needed now is to put on paper all the agreements, all the discussions, and to have a strategy to make cooperation between France in particular, and European know-how in general, more accessible to local people and the community,” he said.

In line with its expansion in the Gulf, Unanime and Rougerie+Tangram have been selected to design the marine biology research center in Jubail, Saudi Arabia.

The northeastern province will be home to the Marine Applied Research Center, whose mission is to rescue and rehabilitate animals, which requires state-of-the-art architecture and the application of modern technologies.

In France, the group’s flagship projects include the International Agency for Research on Cancer, delivered in 2023.

“We have a genomic library of over a million samples, stored in a very specific way, which enables researchers to carry out research, and make advances in curing certain types of cancer,” said Sfeir.

The aim is to welcome researchers from various parts of the world to exchange ideas and develop innovative technologies.

Located in the Lyon Gerland biodistrict, home to the French pharmaceutical industry, the building’s design encourages exchange and movement of 300 researchers on-site.

“From an architectural point of view, this is a technological and sustainable building. We have biomimicry technology on the inner courtyard facades and on the outer facade, which provides shade to the building, with no additional energy cost,” he added.

“We strive to make hospitals more user-friendly, more welcoming. We should be able to put people at ease, psychologically ready to receive physical treatment.

“That is how our buildings are built, how our spaces are thought out to help people start their treatment as soon as they walk through the hospital door,” he said.