White Arkitekter and HPP Architekten have been selected to design the new medical clinic, NMK, in Tübingen, Germany. Both firms, with vast experience in healthcare design and wood architecture, aim to realize a project in which, the elements of an integral, sustainable overall concept also play an essential role, in addition to the aspects of healing architecture and optimized functional organization. The new Medical Clinic of the University Hospital of Tübingen will be one of the 34 university hospitals in Germany that contributes to the successful combination of high-performance medicine, research, and teaching.
The architecture program is focused on efficiency through operating procedures and structurally implementing a resource-saving design. As such, the plan focuses on functional and efficient personnel zones by reducing distances to medical stations and emphasizing the landscape. Terraces and gardens offer a green and lush environment and provide the staff, patients, and visitors access to nature. At the highest levels, extruded volumes maximize the view of the Swabian Alps while providing a calm and healing environment thanks to natural light optimization and warm materials.
The combination of wood as an essential structural material on the upper floors and renewable raw material in the expansion and façade enable savings in greenhouse gas emissions, and the stored carbon remains sequestered in the components. The design also contemplates separable components, which makes it possible to reuse all components as a whole element or return them to their respective recycling process.
We’re delighted to be able to contribute with our knowledge of complex healthcare projects and the Scandinavian knowledge of wood architecture. Now we look forward to a good collaboration with HPP Architekten and (client) Amt Tübingen des Landesbetriebs Vermögen und Bau Baden-Württemberg — Kristin Schmitt, lead architect at White Arkitekter.
White Arkitekter has delivered more than 25 healthcare projects worldwide, including the Mother & Baby Hospital Unit in the Democratic Republic of Congo and the new Central Hospital in Karlstad, Sweden. Likewise, HPP Architekten, established 85 years ago, has mastered architecture and technology in projects such as the Europa-Park Stadium in Freiburg and the First Hybrid Timber Office Building in Germany, scheduled for completion in 2023.
