Dutch Hospital Design at Hospital Build Turkey Congress 2013
Dutch Hospital Design was invited to speak at the Hospital Build Turkey Congress on the 25th of October 2013 in Istanbul.
Architect Arnold Burger has spoken about Dutch approaches towards a healing environment and ultimate flexibility leading to different European hospital designs.
For more information visit the Hospital Build Turkey website.
Dutch Hospital Design at CleanMed Europe 2013 conference
Dutch Hospital Design presented at the CleanMed Europe 2013 conference on the 17th of September 2013 in Oxford.
Architect Arnold Burger spoke about best practices in hospital design in The Netherlands.
For more information visit the CleanMed Europe 2013 website.
Vivaldi Nursing Home
A shift from nursing to living
The main challenge for the design of the new nursing home was to make it suitable for the uncertainty of future needs. The Vierstroom as client was still feeling the impact of writing off the existing building after 25 years. Due to it’s layout it could not be modified to comply with the current requirements and therefore had to be demolished to make way for a more flexible building.
Through a thorough analysis we realized that not the quality of nursing but the quality of living was the most important factor to achieve the best change of use for a building with an economic lifespan of 40 years or longer.
The layout of the building and it’s structure includes the possibility to change every wing of the building from nursing into caring. In this way it can be gradually adapted to future needs of care. But even when nursing in the future completely differs to nursing now the building can be easily transformed in a residential building.
The single corridor in the nursing wings not only gives the building great (future) value but also a very pleasant ambient experience in it’s current state. A lot of natural light enters the corridor which are usually dark and closed in traditional nursing homes. Now a passage through the corridor with windows on different heights and of different sizes gives a variety of views into the gardens. Moving through the building is therefore never dull for both inhabitants and staff.
The layout of the appartments, which are set up in groups of 8 elderly people, offers the opportunity to organize nursing like a hotel. Four groups can be mixed so that people with the same way of living can find each other. The positioning of the living rooms support this freedom of living and making choices. In both current and future situations and bearing more individual people in mind this might be a very important issue.
The nursing home is situated on an island surrounded by water creating an urban quality most people want to live in The extraordinary gardens, the water, the entrance and the unique plaza, the architectural detailing in terms of shape and used materials make the building very accessible for residents and visitors, and ensure that the residents, despite the fact that they are living on an island, keep regular contact with the direct vicinity.
The movie below (Dutch) shows the nursing home in use.
Disciplines
Visit of 9p. Singapore MOH delegation in Alkmaar and at Martini Hospital Groningen
On September 11th 2013 Dutch Hospital Design hosted a delegation from Singapore representing the Ministry of Health Holdings and SingHealth.
They were interested in the specific design approach of Dutch hospital Design particularly the issues concerning logistics, IT and flexibility. The delegation visited our office in Alkmaar and also the Martini Hospital in Groningen.