Bjarke Ingels Group has just won the competition to design the new Sankt Lukas Hospice and Lukashuset, an 8,500 m² palliative care center envisioned as a village surrounded by nature. Rooted in the history of the Sankt Lukas Foundation, which dates back to the 1930s, the project will expand Denmark's palliative care facilities, tripling current capacity to accommodate around 2,100 patients annually.
The center will introduce Denmark's first day hospice, alongside spaces for children, youth, and adults, as well as an outreach hospice team. Designed to foster safety and a sense of home, solitude and togetherness, and the delicate balance between arrival and farewell, the two new structures aim to create a nurturing and contemplative environment.
Inspired by the historical architectural language of the site, the buildings feature pitched roofs and yellow bricks repurposed from the original structures. Surrounded by serene gardens and sensory landscapes, the hospice extends the interior experience outdoors, emphasizing the healing power of nature. Inside, the hospice welcomes guests with an open foyer that overlooks courtyard gardens. At the heart of both buildings, central gathering spaces provide areas for community engagement and well-being. Lukashuset offers family rooms designed for both privacy and togetherness, along with activity spaces for play and reflection, while the adult hospice features larger common areas for social interaction and support.
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Stanton Williams to Design Fleming Research Centre at St Mary’s Hospital, London, United KingdomA hospice provides the framework for the final moments of a person's life. It becomes our world before we depart. We have sought to create a peaceful and poetic environment where one can find tranquility and an opportunity to immerse oneself in the world around us—nature, the weather, the changing of the seasons. Instead of the linear corridors of hospitals, we have created a condensed village for life's final days, where small buildings are arranged around protected gardens. The farewell garden, with its fully open roof, offers a space for the final journey. -- Bjarke Ingels, Creative Director and Founder.
The landscape design further enhances the sense of retreat, buffering the center from the surrounding city while integrating seamlessly with the existing park. A network of open lawns, intimate gardens, sensory areas, and winding paths fosters moments of rest and contemplation. The gardens, inspired by Danish natural landscapes, include wildflower meadows, seasonal plantings, and a rainwater pond that promotes biodiversity, attracting local flora and fauna.
At the western edge of the hospice, a farewell garden is nestled within a woodland-inspired atrium, offering a peaceful space for final moments. Designed with an open view of the sky, it provides a symbolic connection to the infinite, underscoring the project's philosophy of embracing nature in life's closing chapter. With a focus on human-centered design, nature, and sensory experience, the new Sankt Lukas Hospice and Lukashuset aims to redefine palliative care architecture, offering a place of comfort, dignity, and reflection for patients and their families.
In other recent news, BIG has unveiled the design for Kosovo's first opera house, featuring an undulating photovoltaic roof that merges cultural infrastructure with sustainable energy production. Additionally, the firm, alongside SCAPE, is leading the transformation of a decommissioned power plant in Connecticut into a vibrant public destination, redefining industrial reuse with a focus on community and ecology.
