Entrant: Consolidated Engineering Company (Khatib & Alami)
Project owner: Ministry of Health
Project contractor: Bahwan Contracting Company
Engineering consultant: Khatib & Alami and Partners
Architect: Khatib & Alami and Partners

Description: Located in Al-Amerat, Al-Massara Psychiatric Hospital is the largest psychiatric treatment centre in Oman, and operates on the principle that the treatment of drug addiction and other mental problems is ineffective unless the patient is fully rehabilitated and can be productive in the outside world.

The hospital is designed to ensure that architectural elements such as treatment of space and lighting encourage optimal patient management and workable staffing patterns. It aims to provide patients with an environment that promotes feelings of comfort, security and self-esteem, and has been constructed on the premise that psychiatric centres should not resemble prisons, but should make life as normal as possible for all patients.

The hospital will also provide bright opportunities to the youth of Oman and the sultanate’s professional expatriates as it will serve as a centre for undergraduate and postgraduate psychiatric training for doctors, nurses and other related disciplines, in a joint programme with Sultan Qaboos University.