Cliniques Universitaires Saint-Luc (CUSL) selected VK architects+engineers - Michel Rémon & Associés to prepare their campus for the future by revitalising it into an efficient care campus. "Hôpital 2025" is an extremely ambitious programme and will further strengthen the leading position of the university hospital in Brussels and the French-speaking part of the country.
The programme includes master planning, study, design and full engineering, with a budget of 250 million euros and an estimated project duration of 10 years.
The team was praised by CUSL mainly for its future-oriented urban development and architectural vision. The clear circulation plans, the connection with the neighbourhood and the city, the roof gardens as an oasis of peace in the busy city and numerous other interventions will transform the current imposing, monolithic structure into an attractive care campus. New buildings will be constructed and the medical block will be completely renovated. The jury was also impressed by the detailed phasing, the internal flexibility, the flows in and around the campus and the very well thought-out reflection on the quality of life on the campus.
Remarkable façade solutions in combination with the use of timber and glass will make it easy for visitors to orientate themselves and allow daylight to do its healing work. And all of this with the ambition to reduce the energy consumption by half within a controlled Total Cost of Ownership.
In the spirit of a "Health City", the various buildings with their diverse heights will create a movement in conjunction with the Brussels skyline. The designers will create various poles of care in order to strengthen the functional relationships. To this end, the day hospital will be given a prominent role. The environment of patients and staff will be optimised to meet today's expectations.
HospitaCité = hôpital + cité + hospitalité
This strategically crucial project for the university hospitals will thoroughly redesign the university campus in an integrated way over the next 10 years. It will become a reference as a Health Campus to the east of the city and it is no coincidence that it will be given the name "HospitaCité". A combination of "hôpital", "cité" and "hospitalité" as a metaphor for a campus that is perfectly integrated into the urban fabric and that is to reflect the hospitality of a hotel.
