With 114 rooms, the new University Children’s Hospital Zurich is the largest healthcare facility for children and adolescents in Switzerland. Located in a residential neighborhood, the roughly CHF761 million (US$887 million) project comprises two buildings: an acute care hospital and a research and teaching facility.
The acute care hospital functions like a town, with the medical specialties as neighborhoods. On each of the hospital’s three floors, a central main street runs past the green courtyard, providing orientation and allowing sunlight into the building.
The patient rooms are located on the hospital’s top floor. Each room has been designed like a wooden cottage with its own roof—providing both privacy and a view of the outdoors. The staggered rooms have rooftops at varying inclines, emphasizing the singular identity of each patient. The rooms also offer enough space for parents to spend the night with their children.
The hospital’s abundant daylight, outdoor views, and biophilic design aim to contribute to healing, according to a statement from the design architect, Herzog & de Meuron.
The white, cylindrical teaching and research building features an open, five-story atrium in the center. The research fields are arranged around this central core to encourage collaboration and communication. The building has one 320-seat lecture hall and two 100-seat seminar rooms, as well as study areas. With movable walls, the lecture/seminar rooms, lobby, and café can be reconfigured to form one large event space that can accommodate 670 people. On the floors above, research laboratories and accompanying offices have unobstructed views of the surrounding landscape.
Boulders unearthed during construction have been placed in and around the buildings. The project team also planted over 250 trees.
On the building team:
Design architect: Herzog & de Meuron
Architect of record: ARGE KISPI (Herzog & de Meuron and Gruner)
Electrical engineer: Amstein + Walthert
Plumbing engineer: Ingenieurbüro Riesen
Structural engineer: ZPF Ingenieure
Building automation and smart building: Jobst Willers Engineering
Construction manager: Gruner
Related Stories
Engineers | Aug 22, 2018
An electrical engineer’s take on designing successful pharmaceutical lab space
Patrick Licklider, PE, CEM, GGP, LEED AP BD+C, an electrical engineer in Clark Nexsen’s Science + technology practice, shares his perspective on what it takes to successfully design laboratory and manufacturing environments for the fast-changing pharmaceutical and biotech industry.
Healthcare Facilities | Aug 3, 2018
Seismic deadlines approaching for healthcare companies
California hospitals can save money with a holistic approach to retrofit issues.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 30, 2018
Best in healthcare design 2018: Seven projects win AIA/AAH Healthcare Design Awards
The Steven Holl-designed Maggie’s Centre Barts cancer treatment facility in London highlights the honorees of the AIA Academy of Architecture for Health 2018 Healthcare Design Awards.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 26, 2018
Healthcare market trends 2018: Health systems get leaner, more resilient
Hospitals set their sights on improving patient convenience and operational efficiency.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 11, 2018
5 ways design is transforming behavioral healthcare
Circadian lighting, calming materials, and transparency are helping to normalize the patient experience in behavioral healthcare.
Healthcare Facilities | Jul 10, 2018
HGA designs acute care hospital for MetroHealth in Cleveland
The facility’s master plan creates a ‘hospital in a park.’
BIM and Information Technology | Jul 9, 2018
Healthcare and the reality of artificial intelligence
Regardless of improved accuracy gains, caregivers may struggle with the idea of a computer logic qualifying decisions that have for decades relied heavily on instinct and medical intuition.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 28, 2018
New Stanford Healthcare outpatient building opens in Redwood City
The facility recently celebrated its grand opening with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 26, 2018
The future of the ambulatory surgery centers and acuity levels
Offering the one-two punch of cost savings and convenience, ASCs are increasingly becoming the venue of choice for both physicians and patients.
Healthcare Facilities | Jun 26, 2018
Mesquite, Texas to receive 60-acre ‘wellness village’
Construction is anticipated to begin on the initial phase in mid-2019.