Case Study: KEMU / Mayo Hospital Works by Hospital Design Hub

Few healthcare institutions in Pakistan carry as much history as Mayo Hospital Lahore and its partner, King Edward Medical University (KEMU). Mayo Hospital dates back to the 1870s, and KEMU traces its origins to the Lahore Medical School founded in 1860. Together they form one of the oldest and busiest teaching hospital complexes in South Asia, treating enormous numbers of patients every day while training generations of doctors.

Our team has carried out work at KEMU / Mayo Hospital. We don’t publish client-confidential project details, so this article does not list costs, dates or specific scopes. Instead, it explains what working on a historic, high-volume public teaching hospital involves, and the lessons that apply to renovation and upgrade projects in Pakistan’s large government hospitals.

🏢 About Hospital Design Hub

Hospital Design Hub is a specialist hospital design and construction company, established in 2000 and focused on healthcare infrastructure: design, construction, consultancy and project management, and the renovation and maintenance of hospital facilities. With more than 50 successfully completed projects, our team has worked on healthcare facilities across Pakistan, including projects such as LDMC, MCH Islamkot, King Edward Medical University / Mayo Hospital, and UOL Hospital Lahore.

Public teaching hospitals are some of the most demanding places to build. Our teams plan every phase around patient care, infection control and the heritage of the institution.

🏛️ Understanding a Historic Public Teaching Hospital

Large public teaching hospitals like Mayo have characteristics that shape every construction project:

• Very high patient volumes: OPDs, emergency departments and wards often operate well above their original design capacity.
• A mix of building ages: colonial-era heritage buildings sit alongside mid-20th-century blocks and modern additions, each with different structures and services.
• Teaching functions: students, postgraduate trainees and faculty move constantly between academic and clinical areas.
• 24/7 operation: emergency, ICU, OT and labour room services never stop.
• Public-sector processes: projects follow government procurement, approvals and financial procedures.
• Heritage value: historic buildings are part of the city’s architectural and medical heritage and deserve careful treatment.

🧩 Typical Project Types at Historic Teaching Hospitals

🏗️ Working Inside a Live Hospital

The defining challenge is that the hospital cannot stop. Construction must be planned around patient care, not the other way round:

1. Phasing plan: the work is divided into zones and stages agreed with hospital management and clinical heads, so only part of a department is out of service at any time.
2. Decant space: temporary wards or clinics, sometimes in prefab buildings, keep services running while permanent areas are rebuilt.
3. Infection control risk assessment: dust barriers, sealed hoardings, negative-pressure work zones next to clinical areas, and clean-up protocols.
4. Noise and vibration control: noisy work scheduled away from OT lists and sensitive areas.
5. Services continuity: temporary power, water and medical gas connections, with shutdowns planned in advance and coordinated with clinical teams.
6. Safe routes: separate contractor access and material routes, keeping patients and visitors away from work zones.

We describe these methods in more detail in working safely in operational facilities.

🏛️ Respecting Heritage Buildings

Historic hospital buildings in Lahore often feature load-bearing brick masonry, lime mortar, high ceilings, verandas and arched openings. These features have real advantages, such as natural ventilation and thermal mass, but they also require careful handling:

• Structural assessment: understand the condition of walls, roofs and foundations before adding loads such as new equipment or water tanks.
• Compatible materials: lime-based mortars and plasters are often more appropriate than hard cement renders, which can trap moisture and damage old brickwork.
• Services routing: run new services in ways that avoid cutting through historic fabric wherever possible.
• Adaptive reuse: sometimes the best use of a heritage building is administration, teaching or outpatient services rather than high-tech clinical functions.
• Documentation: record the building before and after works.

For more on this topic, read our guide to heritage hospital renovation.

⚙️ Upgrading Ageing Infrastructure

In old hospital complexes, the invisible infrastructure is often in worse condition than the buildings:

See our guides to hospital fire safety and hospital power backup.

⚖️ Renovation vs New Block at a Historic Campus

✅ Pros and Cons of Phased Renovation

💡 Lessons for Large Public Hospital Projects

• Survey before you design: existing drawings are often incomplete; physical surveys save costly surprises.
• Design for extreme use: finishes, sanitary fittings, doors and furniture must withstand very heavy daily use.
• Keep it maintainable: choose systems that the hospital’s engineering staff can operate and repair.
• Involve clinical heads early: they know the real workflow and bottlenecks.
• Plan infection control as seriously as the construction itself.
• Respect heritage: the best projects improve care while protecting the institution’s history.

🛠️ Our Work with Teaching and Public Hospitals

Hospital Design Hub works with public-sector and teaching hospitals on renovations, infrastructure upgrades, new blocks and specialised departments, using phased methods that keep hospitals running. Explore our hospital renovation design services, portfolio and LDMC project insights. You can learn more about the institution itself on the King Edward Medical University website, and about provincial health services from the Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Department, Punjab.

❓ Frequently Asked Questions

What is Mayo Hospital Lahore?

Mayo Hospital is one of the oldest and largest public hospitals in Pakistan, dating back to the 1870s, and serves as the main teaching hospital of King Edward Medical University in Lahore.

What is the relationship between KEMU and Mayo Hospital?

King Edward Medical University is the medical university whose students and faculty train and work at Mayo Hospital, its principal attached teaching hospital.

How can construction happen in a hospital that never closes?

Through careful phasing, decant spaces, infection control barriers, temporary services and close coordination with clinical teams, so only limited areas are affected at any time.

How should heritage hospital buildings be renovated?

With structural assessment, compatible materials such as lime mortars, careful routing of new services, adaptive reuse where appropriate and proper documentation.

What infrastructure usually needs upgrading in old hospitals?

Electrical distribution, water supply, drainage, medical gases, HVAC for critical areas and fire safety systems are the most common priorities.

Should old hospitals be renovated or replaced with new blocks?

Often both: heritage and general buildings can be renovated for wards, OPD and teaching, while high-tech departments are placed in new purpose-built blocks.

Does Hospital Design Hub publish details of its public hospital projects?

We do not publish client-confidential information such as costs or detailed scopes, but we are happy to discuss our experience during a consultation.