Outpatient centre, Lucerne

The new building for the outpatient centre is the second step and the core of an overall renovation of Lucerne Cantonal Hospital. Together with the hospital courtyard, which is a hub within the site, it forms the new access to the hospital district. The leafy canopies of three trees provide shade for the large yard from where a wide flight of steps leads up to the hospital promenade that lies at a higher level.

The upper floors of the two buildings are constructed as frames, designed for the most part in timber, while the underground storeys and those areas of the ground and first floor in contact with the earth are massively built. In response to the buildings’ expected life cycle of between 30 and 40 years prefabricated timber construction with exclusively mechanical connections was chosen. This minimises the amount of grey energy used for production and allows orderly, low-emission dismantling. The storeys beneath ground level are designed to be later used as a plinth on which new buildings can be erected.

The concept of easy separability also determines the design of the facade. A steel frame on which photovoltaic elements are mounted also provides protection from the weather and the sun. Climbing plants offer additional shade. The meteoric water from the roofs and hard areas is conducted to various sponge elements above the underground parts of the buildings from where is fed to the vegetation, which through transpiration has a positive influence on the microclimate.