Extension Kolding Hospital

Cor Wagenaar, Noor Mens

Description

Danish hospital architects are credited for being among the first to develop alternative typologies for the bulky, large-scale, high-rise models that became popular in the 1950s. The horizontally organized structures that replaced them soon found their way to other countries. The existing hospital in Kolding, Jutland, is a typical example: a central street connects three blocks, each of them organized around a central courtyard, with patient wards on one side and medical departments on the other. In a thorough redistribution of healthcare facilities, the Danish government opted for a combination of centralized, relatively large hospitals supplemented by a network of health centers. Kolding has been designated as a facility that will concentrate upscale medical functions that serve the wider region. In this rural area, a 300-bed facility was deemed sufficient. Cooperating with Syddansk University, Kolding also offers educational programs for medical students and nursing staff. Its function as a node in a healthcare network required a complete reconstruction and extension of the existing building. It involved a radical departure from the original structure that did not have any visual hierarchy: every part had been planned in the same way and added to the other volumes along the central spine. The architects replaced the patient wards by a long-stretched slab above the central corridor, a solution reminiscent of the classical matchbox-on-a-muffin typology. Then they added an emergency ward on one side, next to a new spacious entrance hall. The main entrance leads to the original main traffic artery. Its glazed roof disguises its limited height of only two floors and provides a view on the superstructure. No vertical traffic is needed to reach the medical departments – the hot floor is situated on one side of the central spine, the outpatient wings on the other. Wayfinding is improved by the strategic design decision of relocating the main entrance from the ‘long end’ of the structure to a more central position midway. This move is associated with the provision of a sequence of public spaces – from the entrance plaza under the welcoming portico one moves through the sky-lit foyer to the lifts. Here the visitor is taken to the inpatient department on top of the building. Four atria break down the scale of the 180 m long structure, allow for splendid views toward the surrounding landscape while accommodating common functionalities like nurse team stations and patient eating/relaxation facilities. All patient wards are made up of single bedrooms with bathroom and toilet as well as personalized flat screens.