Krankenhaus Nord (Vienna Hospital)
The Atriums
Located within the hospital adjacent to patients rooms and communal areas, the atriums are an opportunity to bring light and life into the internal spaces of the buildings. The healing benefits of patient interaction and proximity to green systems (trees and plants) drove the design of these spaces. A variety of sculptural and structural forms sit within the atriums and provide a means of celebrating a rich display of tree and plant life.
The Gardens and Courtyards
South of the hospital the landscape is organised into a series of differentiated zones, varying in character and use according to their proximity to the hospital and the needs/abilities of patients and their stage of recovery. Thresholds mark the transition from one zone to the next and allow patients and staff to orientate themselves within the landscape.
Beyond the linear courtyards between the fingers of the hospital is a promenade and 5 therapy gardens, each with specific landscape elements with therapeutic benefit to patients. These are highly programmed landscape spaces with specific requirements to facilitate in patient recovery. Further south the landscape loosens up to provide less formal open grassed areas and flower gardens separated by winding pathways and groves of trees. The final landscape zone furthest south from the building is the ‘forest’ zone where paths make their way through dense tree and shrub planting with small clearings created for water-bodies and follies.