Mental health challenges and disorders can happen to anybody. They occur in all kinds of environments affecting people of all ages, races and social classes, as well as their relatives and next of kin. In the near future, people with different diagnoses, different needs, different backgrounds and of different ages will be treated under one roof. This places demands on the physical environment required: how do you create a building that is both spacious and intimate, generic and unique, efficient and tolerant, innovative and safe, present and neutral, professional and homely?
What goes around comes around
Over the next 10 years, Denmark will invest a sum of billions to establish a total of more than 20 super-hospitals across the country. A 100.000 m2 somatic hospital is currently under construction in Jutland, Denmark. In 2018 a 15.000 m2 psychiatric cluster will complete this complex. The 381 million kroner construction will gather psychiatry geographically in central and western Jutland, and bring adult, child and youth psychiatry together.
Central Denmark Region, one of five administrative units, launched an open two-stage architectural competition for visionary projects. Three winners of the anonymous first phase were selected to further develop their schemes. In phase two, OP Architects (DK) and Skafte Aymo-Boot of NEZU AYMO Architects (NL), the creative team behind the project “Good Circles”, achieved the highest score in architecture. The concept is extremely simple and sympathetic: investment in humane architecture results in human recovery - what goes around comes around!
Two hospitals. Infinite possibilities.
Juxtaposing the somatic hospital and the mental hospital allows for fruitful professional exchange. This means optimal conditions for concurrent and efficient medical and psychiatric treatment. Architectonically there is a striking contrast between the two hospitals. The new super-hospital is stringent, tall and orthogonal, while the psychiatric cluster is low and organically shaped with clear self-identity. While differing in shape, the physical connection and a deliberate repetition of materials ensure unity and coherence in the complex as a whole.
The cluster - three circular buildings joined by a fourth central distribution ring - connects directly to the main lobby of the existing somatic super-hospital. Rather than just extending the long lobby to create a corridor with a blind ending, a loop flow leads to the psychiatric hospital’s six departments and back to the starting point.
The jury report on the circular plan: "The main concept with three rings joined by a fourth central ring results in a logic well-functioning structure with a good flow and short distances".
Rooms with a view
On the ground floor, three circular patient departments are connected around a fourth distribution circle. This central ring contains the main lobby, communal facilities and sports facilities. Each patient department is organised around a large communal courtyard garden. All rooms are situated on the outer periphery with a generous view of the surrounding landscape. The wide circulation spaces between the rooms and the inner courtyard garden contain functions such as the kitchen, dining area and common rooms.
Niels Lund Petersen, Partner, OP Architects: “Designing a mental hospital is of utmost meaning to us and to the patients. After a long period of financial crises and cutbacks, you show this vulnerable group of people that society truly cares.”
The design team has been sensitive to accessibility, interaction and circulation within the building and the complex as a whole. Spaces provide easy orientation, movement and open exchange between employees, patients and visitors, as well as providing spaces and recesses for privacy when needed.
Integrated design approach
Central Denmark Region demanded a large amount of technical documentation. Over the past years, MOE, one of Denmark’s fastest growing Engineering companies, has made a concentrated effort to strengthen their competence in healthcare architecture. However, a psychiatric hospital does not require the same amount of technical installations as a general hospital.
Skafte Aymo-Boot, Partner, NEZUAYMO Architects: “Over the past 15 years, I have been involved in designing three mental institutions in Holland. Unlike a somatic hospital, the psychiatric hospital is basically an advanced hotel with special safety requirements.”
As leading Danish experts on LEED, MOE is the guarantor for an environmentally friendly building, from solar panels on the roof to a sustainable materials palette. Furthermore, the team put a lot of effort into developing green strategies focusing on sustainable elements with therapeutic effects. These include maximized daylight, multiple outdoor terraces which offer sunlight and fresh air together with private lush gardens and plants with curative properties. Together with Arkitema Landscape, MOEs expertise has been a contributing factor in turning OP and Aymo-Boot’s Good Circles into functional circles.
In summary, Good Circles is all about architecture itself becoming instrumental in helping people who may find themselves living on the margins of society.
↧