The specialist clinic with state-of-the-art facilities is set in parkland surroundings and offers a magnificent view of Lake Constance.
HISTORY AND LOCATION
Herz-Neuro-Zentrum Bodensee (HNZ) is located on the grounds of the cantonal hospital Kantonsspital Münsterlingen. The hospital traces its origins back to a medieval monastery. The new building complex stands on the eastern perimeter of the site, which is surrounded by meadows and fields and borders a country road. The shore of Lake Constance is located approximately 350 metres further north. HNZ was previously located in the nearby city of Kreuzlingen. The canton has granted the clinic a leasehold on a plot of land for the new building in Münsterlingen, allowing for close cooperation with the neighbouring cantonal hospital. Nixdorf Architekten GmbH was commissioned to design the new premises. An objection from a resident blocked the project for several years after the building application was submitted in 2013. HRS joined this challenging project as a full-service contractor at the end of 2020.
CONCEPT AND ARCHITECTURE
The spacious, three-storey new building, which consists of several terraced levels, provides excellent views of Lake Constance. The facility has 58 beds and three operating theatres, including a hybrid operating theatre and a cardiac catheterisation laboratory. The second basement floor contains an underground thoroughfare to Münsterlingen cantonal hospital, enabling both facilities to leverage all available synergies. The architecture is based on a strict orthogonal grid. The two main buildings, which run east to west and are offset from one another, are flanked to the north by a single-storey restaurant wing, which stands as a pavilion on the sloping ground that leads down to the lake. A rectangular ward block above the north-eastern part of the main wing forms the upper boundary of the complex.
The open spaces play off the clinic’s distinctive character with a simple design concept. A few clusters of fruit trees and rows of maples, planted in a herb meadow, serve as a link between the building and the rural surroundings. Access is provided from the south, via the sloping side. The ambulance entry point is located on the first basement level, while a large underground car park is accessible from the east side. Meanwhile, the main entrance is situated on the west side of the restaurant wing, beneath the cantilevered ward block, with a standout element in the form of a water feature. This leads into a light-filled two-storey foyer, from which all sections of the building can be accessed. There is a spacious patient garden on the east side of the restaurant wing. Situated on the roof of the car park, it was designed to resemble a terrace. Paths that wind around elevated ‘green islands’ allow people to take a stroll along circular routes of varying lengths. Rose beds lead to seating areas sheltered by pergolas. Narrow-crowned trees provide shade without compromising the view of the lake. The openplan interior design, consisting of exposed concrete, light-coloured wood and shades of blue and green, creates an atmosphere reminiscent of a hotel while serving as a nod to Lake Constance. A sophisticated signage system makes it easier for people to find their way around. State-of-the-art technology has also been incorporated. In the operating theatres, for example, special laminar-flow ceiling diffusers have been installed, allowing the air above the patient to flow faster than elsewhere in the room. This ensures hygienic air circulation during surgery and protects patients from foreign particles. The treatment rooms and operating theatres are located in the south-west wing, while the ward block above follows a double-wing layout, with two longitudinal corridors and a row of service rooms and passageways between them. In addition to the central staircase in the foyer, which is flanked by two elevators, two peripheral stairwells aligned with the ward floor provide straightforward, efficient vertical access.
SUSTAINABILITY
In line with the ‘silent hospital’ philosophy, the clinic dims the lights at night and reduces the volume of the alarms. After all, patients need to feel comfortable in order to recover. The local community also benefits from this approach.