Winter gardens close to the patients

Challenge

Access to fresh air and views and the opportunity to be physically active are important parameters in people’s health and well-being; and especially so in the process of patients’ recovery.1 Many hospitals give patients access to gardens and other spaces for social and physical exercise. But often, these functions are centrally located and serve many sections and different types of patients. In a pandemic crisis, patient circulation may be restricted, leaving some groups without access to common areas or the opportunity to be physically active.

Solution

Mary Elizabeth’s Hospital is the Danish National Hospital’s new hospital building for children, young people, pregnant women, and their families. The interior of the building is designed around zones with varying degrees of community. Central to the building are the common areas on each floor, where all the patients, relatives, and employees can meet each other on a daily basis. But each bed section also has its own common area – a kind of backyard – which serves a smaller unit and is therefore more private than the central common areas. These winter gardens are the setting for various activities, such as entertainment and exercise, that are both social and support healing.

The example shows how the building’s interior design with decentralised facilities creates better opportunities for well-being and health in everyday life. It also shows how robustness and built-in flexibility make the building well equipped to function – even during an epidemic where entire sections are isolated from the common areas.

Taxonomy

Sphere: Treatment

Timescale: Long Term

Type: Building Intervention User Group: Children, Families, Employees/ Service Providers, Customers/Users

The winter gardens at Mary Elizabeth’s Hospital offer patients various activities

The winter gardens span two floors, but access from one of the floors can be closed if there is a need to isolate the sections separately

Project and location: Mary Elizabeth’s Hospital - Rigshospitalet for Children, Teens and Expecting Families, Denmark

Contributor: 3XN, Arkitema Architects K / S, NIRAS, Architect Kristine Jensens Tegnestue, Rosan Bosch

Established: Under construction