Geneva Children’s Hospital

A hospital integrated into the campus

The new HdE is an integral part of the master plan for the southern zone of Cluse-Roseraie, drawn up by a working group made up of representatives of the Office of Urban Planning, the Department of Transport of the Canton of Geneva, the City of Geneva, the HUG, as well as the Commission for Nature and Landscape, and Monuments and Sites. This plan defines the projects to be carried out in this area by 2040.
The children’s hospital is integrated into the geometry of the site by maximising the sunlight and the views of nature. It creates a new vision of the HUG in the district through simple and legible volumes. Visitors and patients are directed from their dedicated car park to the new southern entrance facing the park, at the heart of the new village square. The emphasis is on the human element at the heart of the hospital project.

A sober and perennial architecture attentive to the environment

The hospital’s facades interact with the landscape through a play of terraces and folds. They provide breathing space for the entrances and frame wide views of the environment. This volumetric play goes hand in hand with the control of heat gain through fixed and mobile solar protection. The warm presence of nature is present on all floors with a choice of materials such as wood that is in keeping with the spirit of the care and healing environment for children. The project is part of an environmental and energy strategy that adheres to a perspective of sustainability in relation to the inevitable challenges of sobriety. The hospital and its context interact in a positive way, both to create attractive public spaces that contribute to urban quality and to provide, through the park in the heart of the site, a quiet setting for the users of the buildings and space for healing. In addition, the layout of the accesses provides clear and efficient routes.

The agile hospital: A simple structure allowing great flexibility

In order to respond to changing needs and hospital practices, the project favours scalability. Technical shafts centralise the verticality of the building and thus limit interventions in the rooms and corridors. The maintenance of the facades is facilitated by the use of terraces and courtyards. The wood structure, which is revealed in the domestic spaces, is intended to highlight the constructional principle. Mikado is a rational, economical project, with a functional and constructive architecture and a general economic approach in the short and long term.