Albert Schweitzer Hospital - Dordrecht, Netherlands

The Dordrecht Health Park is expanding and now almost forms an entire district in itself. The existing Albert Schweitzer Hospital has been substantially refurbished and extended to become a fully fledged medical service centre. To the north, a new building complex provides additional services such as Accident & Emergency, Outpatient Unit, a Competence Centre and doctors’ surgeries. Four main buildings rise up above the three-storey glass atrium that links all hospital tracts, old and new, across their base.

The functional connection between the separate buildings is visually expressed in the vertical pattern of their façades. Nevertheless, each individual tract also has its own identity. The carefully chosen colours of the brickwork vary from warm ochre to bright vermillion red. The dark-grey vitrified brickwork of the perpendicular building stands out in that the glazed surface of the stone shimmers like metal when the light catches it at an angle. This prominent building also accommodates the main entrance of the hospital complex.

Each individual tract still has its own entrance, of course, but on the inside they are all connected with each other to allow facilities to be shared in future. The building to the east contains a care home and care hotel as well as a maternity ward. The other tracts contain offices, a training academy, the Competence Centre and the South Holland district health department, which is located in the building to the far west.

In the evening hours the inside of the glass atrium lights up in a sequence of colours, from apple green to daisy yellow, bright enough to shine out towards the street. The continuous corridor is designed as a landscape. Floor-to-ceiling photo collages give the impression of walking along a riverbank. Different colours and materials create clear identities for the different departments. Waiting areas are designed to be welcoming and attractive, with views towards the outside, creating a warm and friendly atmosphere for patients and visitors. Individually designed lighting concepts for each unit further assist good orientation.