Description

The nested position of wet cells between the patient rooms results in a rectangular floor plan and therefore in very good conditions for flexible use of space. This solution also works to the advantage of the patient rooms in the new Oncology Centre in Leuven. Guide rails behind the beds allow for different positions for the bed and thus create options for individual seating areas, enabling new room layouts in a two-bed room.

The new Oncological Centre at UZ Leuven, located on Gasthuisberg, consolidates and upgrades existing oncology facilities at University Hospital Leuven, Belgium’s largest hospital. A single multidisciplinary unit on 23,000 m2 will diagnose and treat up to 35,000 patients from across the country. The centre will be located at the crossroads of care, education, research and medical-social facilities on the campus, thus reflecting the multidisciplinary nature of oncology. The new centre will provide room for outpatient clinics, clinical trials, radiotherapy and nursing wards. In addition, the building will form one of the main entrances to UZ Leuven.

Incorporation into the campus, building height, daylighting, orientation and connection with the hospital are leading factors in modelling the building volume. The centre’s appearance is characterised by a modest but distinctive architecture. A pure orthogonal mass is underscored by freely designed spacious patios. The fact that the centre very conveniently faces southwest, combined with the large voids on the lower storeys, ensures that daylight can reach all essential areas.

All design decisions are based on the ambition to create spaces that are user-friendly to a range of users. Through trials with hospital staff, design decisions are to be checked during the planning phase and can be optimized. A balanced ratio of single and two-bed rooms was striven for, so that each floor has 14 double and 12 single rooms.

The patient rooms are equipped with a system which enables the beds to shift along a guide rail. By altering the bed’s position, various options for seating are enabled. Thus, each patient in a two-bed room should be designated their own, clearly defined zone, with their own seating area. This serves as a visitor zone for relatives or as a place for relaxing activities such as reading.

The bathrooms are situated between the patient rooms in order to have a fairly flexible corridor wall where a window is placed to optimise visual contact between patients and medical staff. The awareness of medical professionals close-by affects the patient in a positive way; this can shorten the process of recovery.

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Originally published in: Wolfgang Sunder, Julia Moellmann, Oliver Zeise, Lukas Adrian Jurk, The Patient Room, Birkhäuser, 2020.