Recovery in the Green
University Medical Center Mannheim
With gentle interventions and a clear structure, the University Medical Center Mannheim is transformed into a place that combines architecture, medicine, and nature. Since the architectural and conceptual competition launched in 1985, we have been commissioned for several new construction, remodeling, and renovation projects.
Originally built as a castle-like building in 1920 in a spacious park on the Neckar River, the Mannheim University Medical Center had been supplemented over decades by new buildings without an overall concept. Our goal was to consider conservational aspects, preserve the distinctive structure of the old building, and maintain hospital operations during construction work. The design develops a memorable, flexible structure that can be expanded additively. At the same time, the original park is reclaimed for patients and staff: the new care stations form a chain of pavilion-like buildings in a semicircle around the park, and offering all patient rooms a view of the greenery. The scale and materials of the listed old buildings are continued. Thus, the "hospital in the park" from 1920 becomes a "park in the hospital".
Dermatology
The care stations and day clinic are merged on two levels above the examination and treatment area on the garden level. Inpatient functional areas are directly connected. All patient rooms face the park; balconies, common areas, and hallway views make it the central element of recovery. In the basement, there are the operating theaters, the center for aesthetic-reconstructive dermatology, and laboratories of the German Cancer Research Center.
Operations Center
The four-story Operations Center was integrated in the western part of the clinic and is functionally connected to all neighboring clinics. All construction work was carried out while the clinic was in operation. The highly sensitive surgical area is equipped with state-of-the-art technology, including five X-ray rooms and a sterile DSA room with airlocks to ensure smooth processes.
Children's Center
In the new building, pediatrics and pediatric surgery were brought together - with direct access to the women's clinic and operating center. The center consists of three strongly articulated, terraced buildings, accessed through a light-filled, triangular entrance hall. A visitor walkway provides barrier-free access to all stations. All patient rooms face the park, while examination and treatment rooms are located in the garden level. In addition to pediatric and pediatric surgery units, two urological departments were also integrated. In the basement, an operating center with four interdisciplinary operating rooms was created, complemented by five additional rooms in the functional building.
KMT-Station
The existing oncology day clinic was expanded by two floors. The extension continues the design features of the clinic and integrates a new stem cell transplantation unit. Eight single rooms with sanitary facilities and the entire station require special technical measures such as pressurized rooms and airlocks.
