Ostschweizer Kinderspital

The extension of the Eastern Swiss Children's Hospital includes an intensive care unit and an inpatient ward. This is located in the south of the complex as a compact, solitary structure at the edge of the topographic plateau of Grossacker. The ICU continues the existing base building to the west, extends into the park-like surroundings as a pavilion type, and connects to the small-scale development. The upper floor of the ICU, with a connection to the emergency department, contains the patient rooms, the ground floor houses the administration, and the base contains a parking garage. An irregular column grid is derived from the spatial principle of the ICU, which locally mediates with diagonal columns to the requirements of parking, acting as stiffening in addition to the peripheral building core. In the compact functional unit of the ICU, monitoring requires high transparency, which is ensured by large internal glazing. These not only reveal diverse spatial relationships but also expose the skeleton structure as an identity-forming primary element in exposed concrete. Corresponding to the principle of "inner windows," the facade glazing encloses the building with low parapets. Thus, the tree-lined surroundings, along with the fine material selection, shape the spatial atmosphere that supports the particularly sensitive situation of the health of children, parents, and caregivers.