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Health-promoting architecture
Innovative children's hospital BørneRiget receives project-specific element facade from WICONA
In the Danish capital Copenhagen, the BørneRiget is a truly exceptional children's hospital. The building, which was designed by the renowned architectural firm 3XN, looks like two giant hands and combines all disciplines of paediatric care under one roof. For the realisation of the partly polygonal building envelope, those responsible relied on a project-specific element façade from WICONA.
Unique building architecture in the form of hands
The new national children's hospital BørneRiget is part of Rigshospitalet – which belongs to Copenhagen University Hospital – and is located in the middle of the city on a 17,900 m² site flanked by two spacious city park areas. Among other things, the building offers state-of-the-art operating theatres as well as spacious and brightly designed hospital rooms and is designed for up to 900 patients. In addition, there are around 1,200 employees – doctors, nurses, carers and administrative staff. Architecturally, the BørneRiget has one characteristic feature: The architecture, developed by 3XN A/S (Copenhagen) together with cooperation partners, is shaped like two hands – a symbol for holding the hand of someone who is in a difficult life situation. This metaphorical and organisational principle is reflected in the entire building concept. Each "hand" is defined by a "wrist" – this is where lounging areas for families during their hospital stay are located. Each "finger" houses patient rooms and a winter garden at the respective end.
Playful security
The new hospital's health concept is also remarkably different: According to 3XN A/S, the specialists come to the patients here – and not the other way round. Treatment, care, research, education, technology and architecture are considered as a holistic ecosystem. Patients and family members should feel safe and comfortable, and children should be able to play carefree despite their illness. 3XN founder Kim Herforth Nielsen explains: "When our children get sick, the whole family is affected. We have therefore set ourselves the goal of creating an environment in which the family can stay close to the patient and lead a life that is close to what they are used to". To achieve this, the architects incorporated the healing properties of architecture into their design, taking into account factors such as airflow and daylight.
Energy-efficient façade construction
The partially polygonal glass/aluminium façade of the BørneRiget was realised with a special construction based on the WICTEC EL evo element façade from WCIONA. In close cooperation with the specialists from the façade construction company AILE grupa and WICONA, the architects developed a solution that was precisely tailored to the project requirements. Due to the high requirements in terms of thermal insulation, the elements have infill thicknesses of approx. 60 mm or 58 mm. With an excellent overall Ucw value of ≤ 0.55 W/m²K, the façade makes a significant contribution to the energy efficiency of the new building. The complex and partially curved geometry of the façade also required some special design features. Examples of this: In addition to the classic mitred corners for the "flat" façade elements, the main frame elements for the polygonal façade were realised with screwed butt joints.
The window sashes are motorised to open outwards. Further highlights are the slat profiles attached to the outside and the wood panelling partially integrated into the elements on the inside.
WICONA was able to contribute over 25,000 m² of "customised" façade surface to the construction of the BørneRiget – a true lighthouse project for Copenhagen.
