Nikolay Shahpazov, who is currently studying at the Architectural Association, UK, entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: shahpazov@hotmail.com

Sculpting The Time – Lobby For The Island Of Capri

The unit research is on dramatic sensual processes encountered in films, novels, personal experiences and observations. This field presents misplaced possibilities imported from the fields of philosophy, physics, and culinary and human emotions. Our building materials are the cinematic aspects of the energy transformed appearances like light, air, water, fire and duration and a solid experimental technical study. The aim is dematerialization of solid materiality up to its only recognition through processes of human initiatives.

The unit takes the island of Capri, it’s Malaparte’s famous villa and Jean Luc Godard’s ‘Le Melons’ as critical starting point, to discover the ‘Hotel Lobby’, a place surrounded by mystery. These happened around the idea for a lobby. where sensual experiences replace normal functions. The Island of Capri is declared being a hotel – a secret hotel, perhaps only for its inhabitants….

Theme – dissolving

The theme of the project explores water as an agent that triggers an extreme relation between perception with the eyes, dissolving materiality and memory. This transitional process works in the extreme between oppositions. The energy of solid materiality is transformed into a liquid state or one mental condition changes to the opposite one. With this theme the project discovers a link between material and mental state where their interdependence becomes apparent. The appearance of a space triggers our emotions where those emotions change our perception of that space.

Spatiality / Narrative – redintegration

The Island of Capri is defined as a place of personal and collective memories. Here guests are either longing for a personal past long gone or antique past that never existed. Capri is defined having two rooms. The first room is where guests can suppress their past gazing at the collected antique remains and the second one is where they can reinhabit their personal memories staring into the dramatic scenery of the island. The narrative of the project proposes a place where guests can confront their past and decide which room they want to take on the island. The proposed spatial sequence unfolds the inner drama of the guests, which is further challenged on the way down. Redintegration is the process of reawakng distant memories detected by our senses. This passage is the passage of redintegration, a passage that restores a state of unity with the present. The spatiality of the LOBBY does not require a singular way of seeing it or experiencing it. Its creation is not an end product, which only will get worse but a beginning of a long life of transformations.

Materiality / Energy – embodied / released

The Lobby is located on a ridge some three hundred meters above the sea. An inaccessible cave situated fifty meters below is linked back to the ridge above making progressive passage from a very smooth and dry surface on the top to the very wet and prehistoric of the cave. Rain and limestone are the main building materials. Using the embodied energy in hydrology and acidity an existing limestone dissolution process on the island is transformed into sensational spatial experience. There, hydrological device triggers and releases the collected rainwater down the lobby eroding its surfaces and eventually forming a waterfall that would last up to eight hours.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Nicole Hoffman and Meghan Kelly, who are studying at the Texas A&M University, USA, entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: sweetsounds86@aol.com

The Texas A&M University System Health Science Center (TAMHSC)

Need:

A unifying, physical manifestation of the HSC in the form of a campus master plan, including phased plans for expansion.

The Texas A&M Health Science Center (TAMHSC) is a system composed of multiple, educational branches of medicine and health sciences, housed in different locations across the state of Texas. In an effort to assist the needs of the TAMHSC our main goal was to create a vision for a campus, planned in phases, to allow for future expansion, as well as design plans in the next five years.

The TAMHSC, due to its geographic distribution across large distances, sought a central connection between the various branches. This hub would play a role in the following key concepts/goals:

• Promote interaction and collaboration among faculty, students, and researchers.
• Create visibility and self-promotion through a campus.
• Allow outreach through patient-care accessible to the community.
• Provide cutting-edge educational and research facilities.

Design Solution:

After carefully considering the goals of the HSC, we created a vision for the campus, putting special emphasis on spaces for interaction, technology, and sustainable design.

In the creation of a master plan for the campus, we phased the expansion of the HSC in increments of five, ten, twenty-five, and fifty years. We allocated space for future buildings, minding the issue of zoning and convenient or sensible locations for each building according to its purpose. The campus layout is intended to convey a traditional “campus” environment, including a central communal outdoor space in the form of a quadrangle. The semicircular entrance of the campus also conveys its relationship to the current campus of Texas A&M University, which we assumed would be relatively close in its geographical proximity.

We took time to estimate the square footages of all the buildings in each phase, which allowed us to provide an estimate of total acreage that the TAMHSC should acquire for its campus and the future expansion it will undergo.

With the completion of phasing and a master plan, we designed phase one in more detail. In consideration of what the most pressing needs were for the TAMHSC, we decided to include four buildings in the first phase:

• Administration Building: The “face” of the campus. The architectural design conveys a modern approach to a visual reference to the traditionalist architecture of the A&M campus.
• Professional Health Education Building: Houses an auditorium, lecture halls, classrooms and learning rooms, as well as a café and bookstore to provide a commercial opportunity for the TAMHSC.
• Simulation and Continuing Education Center: Provides a facility of cutting-edge technology to help keep students and returning health professionals up-to-date on the latest in health care technology. Holds simulation labs, debriefing and group rooms, and computer facilities.
• Biomedical Research Laboratory Building: Contains sufficient lab space, researcher offices, classrooms, auditorium, and lecture halls. This building would act as the main laboratory research building and offer state of the art facilities for educational and research purposes.

These preliminary buildings of the campus are arranged to create the initial quadrangle outdoor space in the center of the campus to provide a main social space, which would continue to be central as the campus expands around it. This grand communal space would encourage socialization and chance encounters among those on campus, therefore promoting interaction and collaboration.

We also made an effort to pursue sustainable design in our campus planning and building design by use of: photovoltaic panels, solar devices controlled continuously by photocells and sun-tracking software, a drainage lake, and green roofs (that also offer social spaces).

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Nadine Hurley, who is currently studying at the University of New South Wales, Sydney, Australia, entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: nadinehurley@iprimus.com.au

MOD – a facility for the Morbidly Obese and mentally Deranged – Mona Vale Hospital, Sydney, Australia

Obesity and dementia are the fastest growing diseases of our time. The rate of occurrence is escalating and obesity is considered to have reached epidemic proportions. There has therefore emerged a societal need to facilitate those suffering with these conditions.

The site of this project is Mona Vale Hospital, situated on 9 hectares of coastal land on Sydney’s Northern beaches.

Mona Vale Hospital was completed in 1964. Presently, the hospital is run down and under threat of closure. It is my intention in this project to resurrect a landmark institution, by maximising its potential, to;

• Architecturally landscape the grounds which are underutilised.
• Transform the ground level of the main building into a facility to cater to the precise needs of those who suffer with stage two Alzheimer’s disease.
• And to accommodate the Morbidly Obese with surgical, rehabilitation and educational facilities on levels four and six of the main building.

For the majority of people with Alzheimer’s disease today, the 1960s would be reminiscent of their prime years in life. The 60s was the MOD era, the music, the fashion, the fabrics, the architecture and interior design, all colourful and vibrant.

Embracing the MOD aesthetic in this project, sufferers of dementia are reconnected to a time they may well relate to, placing them in both familiar surrounds and an environment completely safe for them to wander endlessly as they do, with pleasurable experiences along their journey.

The Alzheimer’s grounds are demarcated with a maze like hedge enclosing a St Tropez like resort, incorporating cocktail marques and lounging beachside day beds and chairs, a classic Aston Martin that residents imagine they are driving, a shallow lake with a row boat and fishing pontoon and for those splendid northern beaches sunsets, a beer garden.

In the grounds are the pets and chooks that residents could nurture, inside, they would have their own personal memorabilia, such as a recognisable dressing gown they had had for years, hanging in the doorway of their room. Activity areas such as flower rooms where flowers from the garden could be arranged, supervised cooking facilities with safety features, library, art studio where residents could be as messy as they wished to be, providing a feeling of being at home rather than living in a home.

Other safety features would include light sensors which automatically illuminate the path to the toilet, visible from the bed, and signals to alert the night nurses that the resident was mobile. Camouflaged doors, and floor surfaces delineating areas unsafe or no go zones for residents replace institutional locks and barriers.

To surgically and therapeutically treat those who have become Morbidly Obese, larger spaces and appliances are required. In this project I have addressed not only the spatial considerations, as well, the issues of indulgence. Apart from specifically designed operating theatres and rooms, patients would be educated and rehabilitated to indulge in more therapeutic desires other than food. A day spa has been incorporated where patients can enjoy treatments that feel fabulous, and learn to appreciate their bodies and gain incentive to be more mobile. There is an indoor swimming pool and another in the grounds on the eastern side of the building which has been demarcated specifically for their use. The patient rooms all face east to enjoy the sensational sunrises over the surf beach.

The remaining grounds of the hospital encourage a self sustainable environment, with organic vegetable gardens and wind turbines segregating the hospital from the adjoining golf course.

Gilles Deleuze, a French philosopher of the late 20th century writes of the concept that “everything real is already determined by its possibility and reality must follow the latter”. He nurtures the idea of a ‘creative process of actualization’. This means, what happens within the ‘event’ does not have to follow a ready-made plan, but comprises spontaneous organization through its ‘actualization’ within time. Becoming understood in this way leads to the dismantling of the very concepts of self-consciousness.

Sufferers of both Alzheimer’s and Morbid Obesity are disconnected from community. In this project it is my intention to help these people nurture the creative process of actualisation, The Alzheimer’s suffers who no longer have self consciousness and the Morbidly Obese who are trying to deal with self consciousness.

I would like to embrace a new way of viewing Alzheimer’s and Morbid Obesity, by providing adequate space for their potential actualization. The concept of this project then is of BECOMING the aesthetic is MOD.

This was my graduation project. There was an open brief. We were asked to find an appropriate site for a use of our choosing as long as it was plausible.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Mirella Zavala, who is studying at the Universidad Catolica de Arequipa, Peru (4th year, part 2 equivalent), was shortlisted in the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) for the following submission. For contact please email: mirellavera_zavala@hotmail.com

The Geriatric Centre, Sabandia, Arequipa, Peru

The Geriatric Centre is located at 2300m a.s.l. in the district of Sabandia, City of Arequipa, Country of Peru. Its capacity is for 42 persons distributed into 21 double bedrooms.

This project is part of a major urban development proposal which includes services, recreation and leisure spaces. The location was chosen because its fantastic views to the country side scenario and its easy accessibility.

One of the main premises of the design was to provide to the users – ‘adulto mayor’ (old adult) spaces of relaxation in the country side far from the city, surrounded by nature and the joy fresh air.

The design Intends to exploit at maximum the ‘magic of nature’, the architecture avoids ‘aggression’ but adapts to the topography and the natural landscape. Therefore the majority of social – public areas and the bedrooms sector – areas of major stay – have views to the exterior to enjoy the wonderful contrast of the dry hills of the archaeological zone opposite the site and the green of the agricultural land. It is the agricultural areas that organize all sectors and allow nature to be the protagonist and the architecture the frame that remarks the landscape.

There is a dual character of the architecture, extroverted open to the natural context but introverted too, creating internal spaces – courtyards – with water features and landscaped gardens for contemplation.

The Project is divided and organized in function and volume into 5 zones:

- The Social Activities sector

The Reception, dining area, playroom and reading room from part of this sector. The ceiling height and the volumes are higher in order to differentiate the activities and provide more comfortable internal environment. The views from theses spaces are the best!

- The Bedrooms Sector

Situate over two levels one of which is caved into the ground. This is possible to the gradient of the terrain. The views are also fantastic!

- The Workshops Sector

There are workshops for pottery, sculpture, paint, handcrafts and sewing. These spaces define the boundaries of the plot and are within the agricultural land which provides a very calm environment for these types of activities.

- The Clinical Sector

The design proposes consult-exam rooms, gymnasium and hydrotherapy rehabilitation room. Despite this sector is located at the back of the site, it has got terrific views and a quitter environment.

- The Chapel

The intention is to open the Chapel to the general public of the surrounding areas to create a sense of community with the nearest population as 85% are of catholic religion. The design – layout of openings and volumetric spaces – allows natural light to flow through the space provoking pleasant visual sensations. The location of the Chapel remarks the main entrance to the Geriatric Centre and its volume enhances the identification of the building from long distance.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Libby Makinson, who is studying at The University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (BA2 Part1), entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: e.j.makinson@newcastle.ac.uk

Health² Charlotte Square Health Centre, Newcastle Upon Tyne

A Health Centre for residents in the city centre conservation area of Grainger Town. Situated in a steeply dual sloped Georgian square, the site challenged accessibility issues and space planning.

The city centre location gave the project its social agenda, its concept derived to create much needed public space to both the front and rear of the centre.

The simple three-storey block completes the square, and provides public open space to the rear, that enjoys the best of both morning and evening sunshine. As one approaches from Charlotte Square, the linear block appears to be two storeys high, and if one ventures to the rear of the site the same can be said: the slope of the site hides the centre’s true scale.

The accommodation is organised with public and community facilities (the pharmacy, cafe, community health room and health visitor) on the ground floor with direct access from Charlotte Square.

The consulting rooms and reception are all on the first floor (with direct access from the rear public square and car park), and staff areas are located on the second floor complete with their own south-facing terrace.

The apparently random window positions are derived from standing and sitting eye heights for both able-bodied users and those using wheelchairs and by the specific activities in each room. The horizontal and vertical timber cladding adds rhythm and acts in contrast to the predominantly brick elevations adjacent. The use of bricks with their frogs facing outwards is a symbol of the square’s past and also helps communicate the use of a grid BECO structure onto the facade.

With its simple planning and community facilities the centre aims to relocalise health provision and act as a positive catalyst for further regeneration of the area.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Lawrence Ingram, who is currently studying at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK (RIBA Part One), entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: treacle76@yahoo.co.uk

‘Prospect’ – A retreat for visually impaired Children, Warkworth, Northumberland

The brief’s title of ‘Hide’ introduced the intertwined concepts of providing a place for a specific user group/s and that of responding to a rural village location; (Warkworth, Northumberland)

Students were required to research and select a group of children who were disadvantaged in some way, and begin to explore how such disadvantages could be understood. The hide ultimately aimed to dissolve a condition altogether or reconcile it in order that the child and carers could emerge from their experiences having had an enjoyable stay and even with an improved standard of life.

The user group

I chose to concentrate on visually impaired children aged 4-8 who would visit the hide for approximately one week with their carers. My research highlighted that such a user would require an additional set of sensory experiences than the visual which is often the primary driver for Architects and designers. I discovered that rather than limit design scope, such a user allowed greater freedom in terms of design possibilities and helped to both select the site from a choice of six and relate to the character of the village and the wider realm.

From my extensive site analysis of the village and locality, several key factors emerged. Firstly the very rural nature of the village itself and the sheer wealth of sensory experiences offered by a secure, linear public footpath passing the chosen site connecting the north and south of the village (see site analysis sheet). After further research into the user group it emerged that the visually impaired are traditionally fearful of the outside rural environment due to its irregular topography. Thus children often miss out on all the experiences of being in a natural environment and at these impressionable ages.

Secondly the central location of the site within the village offered another opportunity to include a village hall or flexible space which could serve the community. This offered the possibility of including the visually impaired children and carers into the usual daily routine of village life suggesting an air of normality rather than one of exclusion for the visiting children.

The Proposal

The aim of the building therefore was to help children discover and enjoy the great outdoors through all the activities connected with gardening. In addition to the gardening activities a secure external sensory play zone would offer tactile scale models of the hide, the village of Warkworth and the various species of native flora and fauna surrounding the hide which would aid the children to build up a mental picture of their environment (see plans sheet).

The building itself is made up of two principle elements, the low level more protected spaces comprising the accommodation (which is physically built into the landscape), the allotment and play areas for the visiting children. The higher level projecting element serves the village community and is conspicuous by its Copper surface finish (see model photos on sections’ sheet) The linearity of the public element aims to acknowledge the historical strip garden plots or ‘burgages’ of the neighbouring properties. The transitional form of this element leans forward to address the aspect out across the river Coquet and the sea estuary beyond. This large principle space address the functions of a larger flexible space for the village community and for the interaction of the user group with other visiting children with various levels of sightedness with the hope of promoting networking and relationship formation.

Finally the provision of a farm shop and Café/Bistro provides a real outlet for the allotment produce which the children will have helped to grow and care for over their stay.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Lauren Raven and Daniel Romo, who are currently studying at the Texas A & M University, USA (4th-year student at the College of Architecture), entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: laurenraven@gmail.com

Charles E Schmidt Medical Centre, Boca Raton, Florida

In February of 2007 students from Texas A & M University traveled to Boca Raton, Florida. On the trip the students met with HKS Architects at the existing Boca Raton Community Hospital and learned about the goals of the project.

The main goal of the project is to design a hospital that will replace the existing Boca Raton Community Hospital, to better provide for the community of Boca Raton, FL. A few design driven goals that were enforced are…

• to strive for all private inpatient rooms
• to create a functional connection between the client and the building
• to build a teaching hospital, in accordance with Florida Atlantic University, and that will be educationally centered
• to use evidence-based design to create an atmosphere that reduces stress, can control infection, and increase patient safety

The program summary, as presented February 2007:

Public & Administrative Services – 141,758 dgsf
Heart Hospital – 135,824 dgsf
Neuroscience Hospital – 31,479 dgsf
Shared D&T between Heart/Neuro – 66,061 dgsf
Oncology Hospital – 28,443 dgsf
Orthopedic Hospital – 29,393 dgsf
Surgery Hospital – 58,136 dgsf
General/Pediatric Hospital – 48,006 dgsf
OB/Women’s Hospital – 91,869 dgsf
Diagnostic and Treatment – 189,456 dgsf
Logistical Support Service – 96,146 dgsf

Total Department Gross Square Feet – 917,911 dgsf
Total Building Gross Square Feet – 1,197,876 dgsf
Total parking (4,600 spaces) – 900,000 sf

Inpatient Wing

The inpatient wing is designed as a 40 bed cluster, made up of two 20 bed clusters joined by a central reception and waiting room area. The support spaces that are laid out reflect what is needed for the Cardiovascular Acute Care Nursing Unit. The 12′ hallways allow for extra storage and room in surge conditions.

Acuity-adaptable Patient Room

Exterior of patient room has the maximum amount of glass so that nurses are able to see into the patient room, even when not at a nursing station. This allows for acuity-adaptable rooms. Curtains or blinds are used to allow for patient privacy.

Surge Patient Room

With Florida’s hurricane-prone weather, surge accommodations in the event of a natural disaster are a necessity for the hospital, as shown in this patient room.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Kerry Chong, who is currently studying at the Curtin University of Technology, Western Australia, entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: kerry1521@hotmail.com

State Cancer Centre

Site response: vision of overwhelming, aging blocks, precariously connected by narrow + constricting corridors. “I didn’t want to create another obnoxious block building but tried to both create a spatial architecture internally while working in harmony with the environment + site”

sculpture

sculptural light

sculptural cues

the ground meets the building as opposed to the building meeting the ground

“where did the ground go?!”

purposeful roof which both shelters and sculpts the interior while providing a public space above ideal for seating, sunbathing, escaping and relaxing as a means of encouraging people to walk through the cancer centre and be a part of it, instead of scared of it

building adaptability – permanent + temporary structures

view of / view from

using landscape to connect the existing + disparate blocks on the site in a new state of hybridity – a continuation of existing topography to avoid entering into visual competition with the dominant surrounding structures while not simply mimicking them

joyful + intriguing spaces

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Junko Iwaya, who is studying at the Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan, was shortlisted in the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) for the following submission. For contact please email: Junko.Iwaya@nightingaleassociates.com

‘Engawa’ School for Community Healthcare

1. Brief

The original brief was given at Tokyo Metropolitan University and developed to meet the ARB Part 2 criteria. The brief calls for a hypothetical relocation of the primary school run by Setatgaya council for 430+ pupils, of ages between 6 and 12, within a residential area in Tokyo, Japan. An integrated design was required for a building or complex of buildings that would knit together a primary health care clinic, an elderly daycare centre and a library located around the site…

2. Proposal

The proposal is for a community school and park creating different learning environments and an oasis for people as well as wildlife in a dense urban environment in order to raise the health standards of the local community in Fukazawa, Tokyo, Japan.

Today in Japan, many children suffer from being bullied at schools, which neither teachers nor parents seem able to stop. In urban areas where core family structure is dominant, communication across generation appears to be insufficient to support child development. Conversely, elderly people are isolated from their families and have to rely on community services. Also highly educated middle aged mothers who gave up work to get married or have children tend not to be able to go back to work due to a lack of skills in such things as information technology.

In research of the climate, the history of architecture and schools in Japan, traditional building technologies were found to be sustainable economically, environmentally and socially. In achieving this, ‘Engawa’ space, an intermediate space between inside and outside, is a key as a buffer zone between the inside and outside. This space also offers a place to admire the beauty of nature during the four seasons, and provides residents and their guests a space to have informal meetings.

Due to the increasing number of elderly people and falling birth rate, an urgent shift is required in meeting the healthcare and social needs of a changing society. Healthcare in the local community should not only cure people when they are ill but prevent illness by encouraging people to stay healthy by leading healthy lifestyles.

In response to the current social issues, the concept of ‘Engawa’ was applied to the community school design. The school is integrated with the community using ‘Engawa’ as a buffer space between them and allows control and flexibility of public access by being divided into three blocks:

• A Community block
• A Teaching block
• A Sports hall and a swimming pool at basement level

‘Engawa’ spaces are designed as outdoor decking space to a café and classrooms and as a stage on the south side of the community block for educational and social activities.

‘Engawa’ is also a metaphor for facilities shared by the school and the local community such as green open spaces, a health clinic, a café, a sports hall and a swimming pool. They are at disposal of the community for a wide range of health related events and educational programmes throughout the year.

The ‘Engawa’ school acts as a social and educational centre for health by bringing people together to meet their needs and rebuild the community in a sustainable way. Young are reunited with the old and mothers are helped back into the world of work. This concept could be developed to apply to other public building types such as local council libraries, sports halls, parks and so on in order to improve the health standards of local communities.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex

Juliane Popp and Ben Jastram, who are currently studying at the TU-Berlin, Germany, entered the Architects for Health’s First Student Health Design Award (2007) with the following submission. For contact please email: jpopp@gmx.net, b.jastram@gmx.net

Medipack – A Medical Care Centre – Charité Hospital

Brief

The german health system is in a change. Health becomes a service, a product, doctors will be service providers and patients will be consumers. Everyone is talking about medical care centres. This medical care centre shall be a places where doctors of different disciplines provide health care. The patient will be in the focus, he needs an healthy environment, the medical health centre needs identity, but the doctors don’t want to lose the individuality of their practices. Now the architects are called upon to solve this complex tasks and find a solution to this new kind of building.

Location

The german hospitals are in a contest and try to rise their attractivity. An example for this attempt is the foundation of medical care centers. Berlin as the capital of germany is of course a prime example for this development. For this reason the chair choosed the Charité Hospital as a basis for the project. The property is close to the hospital in the centre of Berlin. The land area measures 3500 squaremeters. Every side of the property is different in its appearance. In the East is a solo building at the street corner. In the West is situated an old building which is part of the historic city structure. In the north is a major traffic route, in the south is the Hannoversche Strasse, which is the transition to the Charité-hospital area.

Space allocation plan

(Provided in german language)

Expected performance

• City planning
• Disposition of the space allocation plan and shape of the concept
• Floor plans, sections, elevations
• Concept of the façade (Elevations, Sections)
• 3 dimensional views, perspectives
• model of the environment and building model
• presentation of a doctors practice

Proposal

Medical Care Centre

Location

Medipack – the medical care centre is on a property in the centre of Berlin in the street Invalidenstrasse and the place Platz vor dem Neuen Tor. The central urban position and the proximity to the highly specified Charité (a Clinic) predestine the property for a medical care centre for the cover of the medical basic care with the possibility for an enlarged use oriented to health.

Town planning

The town planning situation torn by the history in the closer sphere is marked by her heterogeneity and thereby permits a formative emancipation. Still it was important to us to define again the place situations at two property edges to close the row of houses.

Leading idea

Our purpose was the creation of a place which allows an equal collaboration between the classical western school medicine and the alternative, or chinese medicine and promotes therefore the exchange of both points of view for the patients advantage.

Concept

A medical care centre with the variety of the methods of treatment and fields resembles a first aid box or “Medipack” which unites many different things which serve the same purpose – the healing – in an all enclosing cover. This analogy led us to a shape which contains all uses attached to the medical care centre and dissociates itself from the ground and the surrounding property by a clear joint. The entrance-staircase in the ground floor interprets formally its affiliation to the medical care centre.

Utilisation

The ground floor is separated thematically separated and acts as a public space which connects the street Invalidenstrasse with the street Hannoversche Strasse and divides in two zones. In the northern part there is the access to the doctors practice modules and in the southern part the access to the hotel. There are various commercial areas and catering areas as well as changing rooms for the medical staff on the ground floor.

Doctors practice

Doctors practice modules in the northern part of the building are most exposed to the city and contain 11 doctors practices which arrange themselves by her modular creation alternating in the building. The modules communicate the main utilization of the building. Every floor there is a central waiting area which sends the patients about an electronic leading system to the respective module. A practise module contains three equally sized rooms, a waiting area and the reception desk. A plant area which can be arranged by the respective owner individually is attached to every module. In addition, there is the possibility to combine two practice modules.

Hotel

The eastern part of the building which faces the Platz vor dem Neuen Tor offers more silence and is still related to the city. The ideal place for a hotel – in our case with nursing service on the first floor in proximity to the surgery area in the back part of the building.

Further utilisation

To take into account other uses around the concept of medical care and precaution, we have added beside a restaurant and a bistro with health-oriented kitchen a small swimming-pool and a fitness and wellness area in the upper floors at the street Hannoversche Strasse.

Facade

To guarantee sun and view protection, we developed a foldable textile sail which can be moved horizontally in front of the windows.

The Architects for Health
First Student Health Design Award
was sponsored by

modulex