ARKITEMA URBAN HEALTH
ARKITEMA ARCH I TECTS
ARCHITECTURE THAT MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO PEOPLE
Arkitema Health focuses on the patient, relatives and healthcare staff. Our design ensures optimal settings that establish useful spaces full of experiences and that have a healing effect. We know that architecture makes a difference to people, therefore we focus on how to best help patients, relatives and staff through a carefully planned design. We believe that well-functioning and sensual architecture can contribute to shortening hospitalisation and supporting patient treatment.
BørneRiget - Children’s Hospital Copenhagen, Denmark
ARKITEMA HEALTH We are specialists in healthcare architecture and design, and patients as well as healthcare professionals are our primary user group. Arkitema Health numbers more than 100 employees across offices in Denmark, Sweden and Norway, making up one of the largest and most experienced health teams in Scandinavia. Over the past 40 years, we have gained vast technical experience with the many complicated processes that support planning and development of tomorrow’s healthcare buildings. Each year, we design more than 50.000 m2 of healthcare buildings in Scandinavia in cooperation with regions, municipalities and companies, always involving users actively. We share knowledge and experience across countries and with colleagues, thereby ensuring strong insight into all aspects of Nordic healthcare architecture.
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WE FOCUS ON SOLID AND FLEXIBLE HEALTHCARE BUILDINGS THAT CAN ADAPT TO THE FUTURE HEALTHCARE SYSTEMS AND USERS. - Wilhelm Berner-Nielsen, Market Director, Arkitema Health
FUNCTION / LOGISTICS Efficient workflows and a coherent treatment process are essential to a well-functioning healthcare building. Focusing on the patient, we design buildings that offer smooth treatment processes, with minimal waiting time and treatment services located near the patient. This means, for example, that outpatient facilities are easily accessible and located close to functions such as diagnostic imaging and facilities for blood sampling. Walking distances and vertical shifts are minimised and softened by means of daylight and views, benefitting all user groups. To secure efficient workflows, we place professions that share patients close together, while supporting professional communities by enabling knowledge sharing. On each ward, we give support functions, such as medicine storage room and sluice room, a central location, and each room is laid out in close dialogue with users, focusing on efficient workflows while ensuring a good working environment. To achieve the best result, solutions are developed in close dialogue with the users.
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Children learn and experience by playing. Through play, the child overcomes fear and resistance. Therefore, in addition to functional rooms, we must create spaces that support play. Rooms that encourage imagination and play. CHRISTIAN SCHOUSBOE PLATZ Creative Leader, Arkitema Health
— BØRNERIGET, COPENHAGEN Project: BørneRiget, Rigshospital’s new Children’s Hospital Address: Klerkegade 10B, Copenhagen, Denmark Size: 58.000 m2 Year: 2017-2024 Client: Rigshospitalet Architect: 3XN, Arkitema Architects Landscape: Kristine Jensens Tegnestue Engineer: NIRAS
BørneRiget - Children’s Hospital Copenhagen, Denmark
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OUR ARCHITECTURE AIMS TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THOSE WHO WORK, LIVE AND STAY IN OUR BUILDINGS. WE ACHIEVE THIS WITH OUR VAST KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE IN HEALING ARCHITECTURE AND THROUGH CLOSE COLLABORATION WITH THE CLIENT AND USERS. - Birgitte Gade Ernst, Business Area Manager, Arkitema Health
Bo- og behandlingscenter, Oksenøya
LIGHTING Today, there is no doubt that light has a positive impact on our mental and physical health. Studies document the link between the duration of hospitalisation and sunlight. Naturally, good daylight is a top priority when we design our buildings. Relying on our knowledge of daylight, Arkitema Health designs the building layout to offer the most challenged patients the best light. Usually, that means that patient rooms are raised towards the light, whereas outpatient facilities are located closer to terrain level. Using large glass sections and light wells, we draw light far into the building, securing good daylight for everyone. We also prioritise daylight in common areas and corridors, thereby providing attractive spaces that benefit patients, relatives and staff. By integrating intelligent artificial light as circadian rhythm lighting, we secure optimal settings for patients and staff, accelerating healing and improving the working environment.
WINNER DANISH HEALTHCARE BUILDING OF THE YEAR 2018
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Beautiful, flexible settings for a wide range of healthcare services. The building successfully houses separate units with a unifying centre that public and private as well as emergency and everyday healthcare services and psychiatric facilities can see themselves occupy. A very beautiful solution that treats all functions as equals. THE JURY, DANISH HEALTHCARE BUILDING OF THE YEAR 2018 Nohrcon
— HOLSTEBRO HEALTH CENTRE Project: Holstebro Health Centre Address: Stationsvej 35, Holstebro, Denmark Size: 13.200 m2 Year: 2013-2018 Client: Holstebro Municipality Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Niras Integrated art: Pernille With Madsen Award: Healthcare building of the year 2018 winner
Holstebro Health Centre, Denmark
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The large, bright, open areas make me feel safe. You get a great amount of freedom as a patient. You are here and you are cared for. But you are still able to handle some things yourself. FORMER PATIENT Vejle Psychiatry
— VEJLE PSYCHIATRY Project: New Psychiatric Unit in Vejle Address: Nordbanen 5, Vejle, Denmark Size: 17.000 m² Year: 2014-2016 Client: Region Syddanmark Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Grontmij, Moe & Brødsgaard Contractor: MT Højgaard Team OPP: MT Højgaard, DEAS og investorerne PensionDanmark, PKA, Sampension Integrated art: Signe Guttormsen Award: European Healthcare Design Award 2018, Mental Health category winner
EUROPEAN HEALTHCARE DESIGN AWARD 2018 MENTAL HEALTH CATEGORY WINNER
Vejle Psychiatry, Denmark
Photo: MT Højgaard
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It’s a great place to work and actually a safe place to work. I think it is really great that I get to take patients to some of the sport activities that are scientifically proven to have a beneficial effect on the course of the mental health condition. I’ve been given more possibilities for my personal development and for what I can do with my patients. And I feel like that makes everything I do just a bit better. RENE SØRENSEN Physical therapist, Vejle Psychiatry
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While the national number of belt fixations is going up, a study at Vejle Psychiatry shows that the period from February to July 2019 saw about 50% fewer belt fixations compared to 2018.
Vejle Psychiatry, Vejle, Denmark
SPATIALITY / MATERIALITY
We create architecture rich in experience that offers variation and contrasts, and which adapts spatiality to functions and users by consciously working with scales and variation. With the new super hospitals comes a special need to make sure that we still identify ourselves as whole persons and individuals in the new buildings. We work with contrasts such as heavy/light and open/closed to achieve a human scale that signals a welcoming and safe space. Through limited corridor lengths, changes in materials, views to the outside and a graduation between public and private zones, we create experiences and variation.
ZONING To us, zoning is about graduation between public and private zones. Zoning ensures that we can always choose the room that best supports our treatment and possibility of physical and mental well-being. The single-bed room is an example of the private room where you find comfort, peace and undisturbed sleep. Here, you can have a confidential conversation with your doctor or relative, while minimising the risk of infection and contagion. Common areas make up the public spaces where you can be socially active. Activities and other people can motivate the patient to leave their room and return to a normal life. A community that allows for step-wise involvement is provided by the graduation between public and private. This transition allows you to gradually enter the community from, e.g., your room via a front area to a common corridor with open common spaces. Or you can pull back partly from the public to, e.g., a seating niche where you can be a passive part of the community.
Oksenøya Living and Treatment Centre , Norway
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Østre Toten Municipality is facing a number of challenges in terms of physical settings for both senior care and home care services. Therfore, we need to create a health and care centre that provides logical structures, is future-proof and flexible, and all in all a great place to be for residents, users and employees. ANNE GURI GRIMSBY Business Area Manager, Arkitema Health
— ØSTRE TOTEN HEALTH AND CARE CENTRE Project: Østre Toten Health and Care Centre Address: Slettavegen, Lena, Norway Size: 12.000 m² Year: 2017-2019 Client: Østre Toten Municipality Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Plan 1 AS, Erichsen & Horgen AS, Hallås Elverum AS, Løvlien Georåd AS
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One of the central ideas is to create a new building with bed units that demonstrates an obvious relation to the rest of the hospital, while having its own clear identity. With its architecture that provides an improved environment upon arrival and establishes an attractive urban space, the new bed unit building signals openness and access to citizens and staff. STENCE GULDAGER Creative Leader, Arkitema Health
— NEW BED UNITS BUILDING, HOSPITAL SOUTH WEST JUTLAND Project: New bed units building, Hospital South West Jutland Address: Haraldsgade, Esbjerg, Denmark Size: 15.000 m² Year: 2015-2019 Client: Region Syddanmark Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Ingeniør’ne Contructor: MT Højgaard
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The Western Jutland heaths inspired the uniqueness and sensory feel of the proposal, using materials that lead away from the traditional clinical hospital towards a safe, homely atmosphere. WILHELM BERNER-NIELSEN Market Director, Arkitema Health
— DNV GØDSTRUP, HERNING Project: New super hospital, north of Herning Address: Gødstrup, Herning, Denmark Size: 135.000 m² Year: 2011-2020 Client: Region Midtjylland Architect: Arkitema Architects, AART, Nordic Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Grontmij, Moe & Brødsgaard
DNV Gødstrup, Herning, Denmark
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Sahlgrenska Life will be a hub in the area, where all users’ natural lines of movement come together and intersect in one place. CHRISTIAN SCHOUSBOE PLATZ Creative Leader, Arkitema Health
— SAHLGRENSKA LIFE, GOTHENBURG Project: Extention of Sahlgrenska University Hospital Address: Per Dubbsgatan, Gothenburg, Sweden Size: 130.000 m² Year: 2016-2023 Client: Västfastigheter, Vitartes Architect: Arkitema Architects, Sweco Landscape: Arkitema Urban, Sweco Engineer: NN
Sahlsgrenska Life, Gothenburg, Sweden
Psychiatric Hospital Näl, Trollhätten, Sweden
CONTACT WITH NATURE
At Arkitema Health, we integrate landscape in our architecture by dissolving the border between landscape and building through visual contact and access to the open. We apply internal green courtyards and building-integrated unheated zones as winter gardens in the transition to the landscape. When designing the building footprint, we pull the landscape in between the buildings, just like we use terraces, balconies and sedum roofs to bring nature onto multi-storey buildings to give everyone a sense of closeness to and view of nature. We develop projects in close collaboration with our landscape architects, who are specialised in nature’s healing ability by applying landscape typologies with different experience values.
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It’s fundamental to us to develop architectonic solutions that combine a safe environment with a healing environment. IZABELA KJELLMAN Creative Leader, Arkitema Health
— PSYCHIATRIC HOSPITAL NÄL, TROLLHÄTTEN Project: New Psychiatric Hospital Address: Lärketorpsvägen, Trollhättan, Sweden Size: 16-23.000 m² Year: 2017-2020 Client: Västfastigheter Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Bengt Dahlgren, ELU Konsult AB, WSP, Structor, Akustikverkan
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WE BELIEVE THAT WELL-FUNCTIONING AND SENSUAL HEALTHCARE BUILDINGS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO PROMOTING HEALING AND SUPPORTING PATIENT TREATMENT. - Birgitte Gade Ernst, Business Area Manager, Arkitema Health
CONTROL As a patient or relative, you may experience losing control of your own life. Many decisions and initiatives are placed in the hands of others. That can increase stress levels and hurt the dignity of both the patient and relatives, who may feel powerless and inadequate. At Arkitema Health, we work to give back control. We do that by offering choices and possibilities of affecting the physical settings, such as control of lighting, views and fresh air. Zoning lets the patient and relatives choose between a more or less private stay. Being self-reliant also gives you a sense of control, e.g. being able to get from your bed to the bathroom thanks to a proper layout and support along the way, and the common room is an opportunity within the patient’s reach thanks to places they can rest and get support on their way there. Good wayfinding is another means of increasing the degree of self-reliance and reducing stress. Signage and colours are minor elements, whereas good wayfinding means integrating wayfinding right from early sketches as a natural part of the building, through local structures, well-located reception areas, views towards the surroundings and significant landmarks.
Skejby Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
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To create healing architecture at the new psychiatric centre in Skejby, we joined forces with a number of artists during the process. The aim was to create a safe, calm environment that contributes positively to the treatment and atmosphere in the centre. STENCE GULDAGER Creative Leader, Arkitema Health
— SKEJBY PSYCHIATRY, AARHUS Project: Skejby Psychiatry Address: Palle Juul-Jensen Blvd. 175, Aarhus, Denmark Size: 50.000 m² Year: 2014-2019 Client: Region Midtjylland, KPC Byg Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Grontmij
EUROPEAN HEALTHCARE DESIGN AWARD 2019 HIGHLY COMMENDED MENTAL HEALTH DESIGN
Skejby Psychiatry, Aarhus, Denmark
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Everybody is surprised by the effect of the new building. The large glass sections allow us to intervene faster if a situation is escalating. Everyone knows that surroundings affect well-being and healing. To me personally, I feel safer and my job satisfaction has gone up since the use of physical restraint has gone down. ANNE-GRETHE BORCH LAURIDSEN Functional Manager Esbjerg Psychiatry
— ESBJERG PSYCHIATRY Project: Extension and redevelopment of Esbjerg Psychiatry Address: Gammel Vardevej, Esbjerg, Denmark Size: 13.100 m² Year: 2012-2014 Client: Region Syddanmark Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: Rambøll
Esbjerg Psychiatry, Esbjerg, Denmark
69,9% The number of belt fixations in 2015 up to and including August went down by 69.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2014.
85,7% Long-term belt fixations lasting more than 48 hours in 2015 up to and including August went down by 85.7 per cent compared to the same period in 2014.
61,4% The number of times that sedatives were administered under constraint in 2015 up to and including August went down by 61.4 per cent compared to the same period in 2014.
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The hospital’s name is ‘Bright outlook’ to highlight the importance of context - not just to the architectonic expression, but also as a healing element for patients and as part of the daily lives of healthcare staff. The hospital is robust and compact in its layout, while offering optimum logistics and flexibility. ANNE GURI GRIMSBY Business Area Manager, Arkitema Health
— ØSTFOLD KALNES HOSPITAL Project: New hospital, one of Norway’s largest new buildings Address: Sarpsborg, Østfold, Norway Size: 89.000 m² Year: 2008-2015 Client: Helse Sør-Øst Architect: Arkitema Architects, AART, Eliassen og Lambertz-Nilssen Landscape: COWI Engineer: COWI Award: BuildingSMART Award, International home of openBIM
WINNER BUILDING SMART AWARD 2014
Østfold Kalnes Hospital, Norway
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The new hospital treats physical and mental disorders. It’s a huge advantage that several professions can work together on treating a patient. TONE CHRISTIN NORDMARK Section Manager, Østforld Kalnes Hospital
Østfold Kalnes Hospital, Norway
LEED HEALTHCARE GOLD MEDAL 2017
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The building layout provides a flexible and dynamic house that quickly and smoothly adapts to changing user needs. STENCE GULDAGER Creative Leader, Arkitema Health
— HEALTH CENTRE VEJLE Project: Multi-user Health centre Address: Vestre Engvej, Vejle, Denmark Size: 18.400 m² Year: 2012-2014 Client: Vejle Municilapity, UCL, A. Enggaard A/S Architect: Arkitema Architects Landscape: Arkitema Urban Engineer: COWI Certification: LEED Healthcare Gold Medal
USER INVOLVEMENT
In our experience, well planned and executed user involvement delivers the best result, while strengthening ownership, motivation, a safe atmosphere and job satisfaction with those involved. At Arkitema Health, we have extensive experience in planning and implementing user involvement processes, and we have employees trained within the field. Consequently, we possess the capacity required to take on the project, and depending on the need, we can increase or decrease the size of the project team during the process. From our perspective, it is only natural and useful that we help guide the process towards functional and sustainable solutions. A process that should take place in close collaboration between decision makers, specialists and staff, and that can involve patients and relatives in well planned user involvement.
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WE CREATE VALUE FOR OUR CLIENT AND SOCIETY THROUGH OUR ARCHITECTURE, WHICH MAKES A DIFFERENCE TO THE PEOPLE USING IT. - Birgitte Gade Ernst, Business Area Manager, Arkitema Health
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WE ALWAYS SHARE KNOWLEDGE AND EXPERIENCE ACROSS COUNTRIES AND WITH COLLEAGUES, THEREBY ENSURING STRONG INSIGHT INTO ALL ASPECTS OF NORDIC HEALTHCARE ARCHITECTURE. - Wilhelm Berner-Nielsen, Market Director, Arkitema Health
ARKITEMA OSLO ARKITEMA STOCKHOLM
PROJECT OFFICE GOTHENBURG
ARKITEMA AARHUS ARKITEMA COPENHAGEN
ARKITEMA MALMÖ