45 degrees
How can we design a space purely responding to the specific needs of scoliosis rehabilitation?
Herzog & de Meuron, REHAB
REHAB, Centre for Spinal Cord and Brain Injuries
Basel, Switzerland
Competition 1998, project 1998-1999, realization 1999-2002
In this project, the client’s wish from the beginning was to have a REHAB centre that would not look and feel like a typical hospital. The design team had to define what a typical hospital is: “Elevators and indoor corridors flanked by countless doors leading to rooms or examination rooms a waiting lounge at the end of the hall or next to the elevator. The same pattern repeated on as many floors as permitted by zoning regulations – an economic solution because it is repetitive to the extreme, and requires no modification of staff behaviour.”
Patients can spend up to 18 months in a rehabilitation centre, depending on the severity of their condition. During that time the rehab centre becomes a place where they try to learn about their condition and cope with it for the rest of the life. It is extremely important that they succeed in doing so in order to become as independent as possible in the real life. There they work with doctors and physicians to improve their condition, interact with other residents, meet with their friends and family. Everything that we normally do, they have to do it in one place. Because their lives become so restricted, it is imperative for a rehab centre to be a multifunctional and diverse building. Herzog & de Meuron explains that: “We have set ourselves the task of designing a multifunctional, diversified building, almost like a small town with streets, plazas, gardens, public facilities, and more secluded residential quarters where people take different paths to move from A to B. We have tried to create surroundings that allow the patients as much autonomy as possible.” (Herzog & de Meuron, 2002).
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The new REHAB centre is a two-storey building, equally well accessible both to pedestrians and wheelchair users. The first floor houses the therapy and medical facilities, while the patients’ rooms reside in the second.
The main architectural concern was the interconnection between the indoor and outdoor spaces. Courtyards are placed in a large rectangle in a way that allows daylight to reach the entire interior. The complex as a whole is like a small town, which can be entered through an outdoor space. The main lobby provides a view of various inner courtyards, each with its own different feature, which makes it easy to orient within the complex.
The diverse, multifunctional nature of the complex ensures that both the patients and their relatives will always find something to suit their needs. One can relax alone in peaceful areas, while the other may enjoy company of others in a social area. In addition, there are neutral places that do not have an assigned function, as well as small spaces for patients in between treatments, to talk to their relatives, as well as for the staff breaks. All in all, the REHAB is an open and live space.
The main construction material is wood of different kinds, used in a variety of ways, ranging from facades to interior finishes. The place might remind of a structure of a pavilion or a garden, especially when looking at the terraces running across the second floor. Horizontal and vertical wood rods guide cloth awnings or act as separating screens to ensue privacy. The Plexiglas dowels are used to link the wooden rods and almost sparkle like beads when light shines on them.
An interesting and useful feature can be found in the patients’ rooms, where the curved, hollow ceiling houses a two-metre diameter transparent plastic sphere. Not only does it provide a clear view of the sky, but also allows the daylight to penetrate inside the room, making it almost as bright as the outside. There is also a veranda that is large enough to wheel the patients lying in beds outside during good weather. (Herzog & de Meuron, 2002).