Horus

Wettbewerb PZA Herisau

The enclosed submission is the result of an innovative collaboration between the disciplines of architecture and medicine. camponovo baumgartner worked in partnership with Dr Ghazanfar Khan, a medical doctor and global health expert based in the UK. He is the founder of Polimath, an organisation which works with diverse disciplines across the world in order to find new ways of working.
We have utilised the skills inherent in our respective disciplines to develop a new approach to design. For the Herisau project, our vision was to :
1. Create an atmosphere that promotes wellbeing through person-centred design
2. Create a place of care that reflects mental health treatment in the 21^st century
The ‘person centred’ approach was at the core of our design philosophy. This applied to patients, residents and healthcare staff. A key question for us was to determine how to express this perspective in the design of the building.
The challenge was to resolve inherent conflicts in the original structure. For example, to create a living place for patients and challenge the ‘institutional atmosphere’ of the original building.
This atmosphere was emphasised by certain features of the building:
– Lack of natural light in common areas, including closed long main corridor
– No clear entrance point to the building
– Intensive unit access required passing through the main corridor and common areas, which compromised the privacy and dignity of patients and residents
During inter-disciplinary discussions, we explored how we could challenge the above features. This included how natural light and the connection with the surroundings of Herisau could promote wellbeing for those using the building.
As a result, examples of ‘person centred’ design include:
– Intensive unit – now placed in own dedicated wing with dedicated access for patients and staff
– Increase light into corridor and common areas (including direct view through common area from entrance)
– Areas of reflection/contemplation – including integrating building into surrounding countryside (i.e. creation of courtyard in annex)
– Effective planning of space to ensure dedicated areas for living, treatment and working