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Architects: VANDERSALM-aim
- Area: 196 m²
- Year: 2015
- photographs: Milad Pallesh
Text description provided by the architects. This summer the Tergooi Hospital in Hilversum commissioned a pavilion where patients with cancer can serve their chemotherapy in the open air. The structure consists of a number of joint and individual seats, which are included in an earthen embankment. Patients are surrounded by grass, flowers and shrubs.
More and more hospitals offer a ‘healing environment’ in which the natural environment plays a key role. However, it is rare that this care is offered in the open air. Also for the Tergooi Hospital, which is directly adjacent to the Gooi’s Nature Reserve, it is the first time the park-like setting is used for health care purposes.
The project Chemotherapy Outside consists of a wooden pavilion designed by VANDERSALM-aim (architecture - interior architecture - model workshop). Patients have a comfortable seat, which is based on the typology and physical principle of a beach chair. The enclosure provides shelter and privacy, but the area can still be experienced.
The pavilion is designed so that the seats act like tiny ‘landscape rooms’, where the patient is literally surrounded by nature. The glass roof of the oak structure provides the necessary shelter so by bad weather patients can still be seated outside whenever they like.
The deck, which extends from one of the treatment rooms towards the veranda, provides the logistical connection to the hospital and provides a safe and dry joint.
The pavilion also includes provisions for the local flora and fauna. Nest boxes and winter quarters for birds and bats are an integral part of the structure. The plants provide nectar, seeds and berries for animals such as butterflies, bees and birds. The planting is concluded in close consultation with a planting expert.
The Project Chemotherapy Outside will also be used for scientific research into the effects on the wellbeing of patients.
