TYPE: Competition

CATEGORY: Healthcare - Hospital

LOCATION: Cluj-Napoca, România

SITE AREA: 169700 m²

DEVELOPED AREA: 60487 m²

USABLE AREA: 40116 m²

CLIENT: Cluj County Council

Partners in charge: Adrian Urda, Vlad Oniga

Main authors: MoD Studio - Cosmin Morărescu, Andreea Morărescu, Rodica Luchian, Beatrice Grindean, Marius Morărescu

Coauthors: Carles Tolomeiu

Colaborators:

Architecture: VOUA Arhitectură+Design (Vlad Oniga, Adrian Urda), Radu Sabău

Visualization: SOLID Element

The idea behind the project revolves around the connection with the park, and creating a friendly space, warm and welcoming, and as NON-intimidating for the children as possible. The hospital floats above the ground, on a green platform, perforated with parks and vegetation, hiding the main access in a friendly manner, without overwhelming the children with the sight of massive buildings.

The main buildings, covered in a white shading facade, resemble clouds, with slightly rounded, soft and nurturing shapes, which guide the eyes either towards the park or the sky.

A design guided by functionality, social support design, and technical efficiency, the main buildings are pragmatic, easy to manage and to expand in the future as modular blocks, in contrast with the main access platform which represents a very intentional architectural distraction from the concerns of daily hospital functionality.

The four modular hospital buildings are a generated enclosure, which respond to the requirements for light, accessibility, shading and urban scale in an easy controllable way, while at the same time keeping in mind future expansion possibilities.

THE PARK - surrounding the building dissipates into the main platform, through the different spatial elements created around the main platform, generating a space that invites the public both inside and outside. Children coming in are not intimidated by the upcoming experience unnecessarily, and people inside, are attracted into the surrounding park.

SUSTAINABILITY

Hospital integration into a supersized park is the main element of the design. Concealing the dimensions of the hospital, and reusing as much of the excavated soil in order to create a protective barrier from the motorway noise and pollution, working in unison with the tree plantations which will densify this barrier and enhance it.

The building has “breathing-room”, fresh air surrounding it, ensuring a connection with nature and fresh positive surroundings, allowing for the best conditions for a healthy recovery for the patients within.

All roof platforms are covered with green terraces, which capture rainwater, and dissipate it slowly, in order to not overwhelm the rain-sewage systems, and also helping with temperature control and irrigation of green terraces and outside landscaped areas.

Controlled light through a shading facade system helps with temperature regulation, and direct sunlight control, ensuring a more energy efficient cooling and heating system.

Ventilation and cooling of the building is done by using technical floors which use natural flow of air, and cool the interior air without bringing in pollen or other uncontrolled bacteria. All ventilation inside the building is controlled through powerful ventilation and filter systems.

Interior courtyards are used both for easy access for patients, in controlled outside spaces, for bringing light inside the buildings, ensuring psychological comfort, and for natural ventilation.

Energy consumption is complemented by alternative energy systems like roof solar panels and photovoltaic panels, which store energy in storage batteries to be used when necessary.

FUNCTIONALITY

The proposal responds to the project brief by positioning public medical spaces and emergency rooms on the ground floor, where the park-hospital connection and the patient hospital connection is closest.

All technical and supply accesses are positioned at the semi-underground level, through an interior courtyard, on the northern elevation of the hospital.

The entire first floor is organized as a platform which unites all four hospital modules, as a common shared space, in order to give quick and easy access to important spaces, like the ICU unit, the operation rooms, hospital pharmacy, burnt unit , imaging unit and sterilization area.

On the first floor you can also find the balneology section which has direct access to the outside from the administrative and research building. The balenology section is tightly connected to the recovery unit, which in turn is equipped with accommodations for patients that need to be admitted.

The ground floor also houses more leisurely activities like a bistro, cafe, library pharmacy and commercial space and educational spaces like an after school.

The upper floors are destined to specialized medical units requested through the hospital brief. The specialized units all have a similar functional and modular organization.

As general rules the admission wards are located on the perimeter of the buildings, storage common areas and technical spaces are central to the plan surrounded by 2,4 m wide corridors.

This organization of the space allows for the redistribution of units / admission wards, containment of special sanitation areas within units etc.

Emergency helicopter acces is directly connected to the emergency room, from which point patients are distributed according to their needs.

SOCIAL CONCEPT and HEALING ARCHITECTURE

The children's social environment being at its most important in childhood, is the drive behind the functionality of the space.

Hospital functionality is built around the patients comfort, ensuring easy connections with parks and garden spaces, for exercise and movement, and where this is not possible, views towards nature. All patients have access to natural spaces, to encourage healing and exercise, and for the therapeutic benefits, either in the park surrounding the hospital, in the interior gardens, on the green terraces or on the semi-public park platforms at ground level.

The interior spaces provide alcoves for family socialising, and for patients to interact with each-other, helping them forget as much as possible about the unpleasant experience.

Small elements like, mobile furniture, sculptural animals, waiting rooms with playrooms, and family spaces ensure a warmth that is much needed during difficult experiences.

All design elements were taken into account and constructed around minimising stress factors, loud noises, complicated access, intimidating views of aggressive buildings, lack of warmth, lack of family presence, uncomfortable light or temperature, privacy.