Rhaetian Cantonal and Regional Hospital Chur - House D

The existing hospital is to be extended with a new ward block and treatment areas. The original project by G. Brun and R. Gaberel (1934-41) has been expanded in three stages into a ring-shaped system that can hardly be extended.

First, therefore, a new access concept is designed that connects the old and new buildings in a clear manner. This new access has a public character; it leads from the entrance via the cafeteria to the waiting niches and entrance zones of the individual areas, like streets and squares in the city, which are connected by visual perspectives and spatial tension.

The idea of the ward building implements the juxtaposition of "public" and "private". The inner street is a place of intensive use and at the same time a meeting place. The patient's room, as the most private space, is characterised by a window bay that allows the patient to relate to the landscape.

Functionality is fulfilled by a clear structure and organisation. Flexibility and expandability are guaranteed. However, function also becomes a poetic element, because it can only be realised through architectural means: Space, structure, light, material and colour.