PHOTO TOUR: Erasmus Medical Centre
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
The varied facade composition features angled volumes, alternating horizontal and vertical fenestration, a variety of deep reveals and bay windows, concrete finishes, and timber elements, which create the impression of a row of individually coherent buildings arranged together.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
The main entrance of Erasmus Medical Centre is recognizable by its inviting plinth, which is four-stories tall. Next to the main entrance is a two-story-tall glazed plinth, behind which are offices, a fitness area, café, and retail areas.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
The bed-accessible roof-top garden connects with the inpatient units.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
The roof garden provides an oasis of calm, relaxation, and diversion for patients.
Matthijs Borghgraef
Located just inside the main entrance is the strikingly designed mezzanine with a grand café.
Ossip van Duivenbode
The central axis—a daylight-flooded interior street along which patients, visitors, staff, and students move—forms a gradual transition between the city and the hospital and is an important line of orientation within the complex.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
Shops, coffee areas, and plenty of seating elements in the public area create a variety of spatial qualities, from dynamic to quiet and intimate.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
Adjoining the central axis are large atriums, which contribute to the creation of a healing environment, and feature high-quality finishes, such as bamboo seating, lighting fixtures set in the greenery, and a glazed roof.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
Use of color, natural light, and views in the waiting areas provide orientation and distraction to reduce the stress of a hospital visit.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
Multiple reception desks are located throughout the hospital, all designed by EGM, with a similar design language. They are instantly recognizable, even in stressful situations, thanks to their rounded corners, light colors, and bamboo covering.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
The nursing units on the upper floors feature a design palette that includes wood, color, and organic shapes to create a pleasant, stress-reducing environment.
Ossip van Duivenbode
The emergency department features bright colors, diverse waiting areas, and a light-filled atrium with greenery and a sky ceiling to help reduce stress.
Rob van Esch | Ruimtes in Beeld
In the radiotherapy department, the X-ray rooms feature photographic wallpaper of landscapes to help reduce the feeling of being inside a clinic.
Matthijs Borghgraef
A sunken atrium helps bring in natural light to the radiotherapy department, which is in the basement of the building.
Opening in September 2018, the new Erasmus Medical Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, transforms the academic hospital from a collection of separate buildings into a small medical city that’s home to 13,500 staff, 4,500 students, and thousands of patients.
The 2.2 million-square-foot facility, designed by EGM Architects (Dordrecht, The Netherlands), centers on creating a healing environment that promotes patient and staff welfare and reduces stress and errors. Spacious circulation areas, atriums, large fenestration, sunken patios, and plenty of greenery lend the medical center its identity, support easy wayfinding, and create a pleasant building to reside and work.
The basic layout is as simple as it is efficient: A daylight flooded central axis forms the spine of the complex, linking existing and new buildings in a logical manner. To give the large building a human scale, the public area is divided into streets and squares. Recognizable anchor points such as large reception desks, art objects, and grouped seating support easy wayfinding.
The busiest services, such as retail, outpatient wards, and the emergency department are located on the lower floors, so that the higher you go in the building, the intensity of the circulation lessens. The top floors house inpatient departments with access to a roof garden. In areas where daylight or views are impossible, sunken patios, biometric light, sky ceilings, and large-scale imagery are used to create a stress-reducing environment.
The concept of healing is also prominent in the private patient rooms, which use daylight, greenery, wood finishes, and soothing colors to create a homelike atmosphere. Patient autonomy is also supported with controls that allow patients to operate lighting, blinds, and temperature to their preference.
Project details:
Facility name: Erasmus Medical Centre
Location: Rotterdam, The Netherlands
Completion date: December 2011 (completed); September 2018 (opened)
Owner: Erasmus Medical Centre
Total building area: 207.000 sq. m.
Total construction cost: N/A
Cost/sq. ft.: N/A
Architecture firm: EGM Architects
Interior design: EGM Interiors
Programming advisor: Ptg advise
Landscape architect: Juurlink [+] Geluk
Contracting: Bouwcombinatie Nieuwbouw Erasmus MC
Structural advisor: Aronsohn consulting engineers
Installations advisor: Royal HaskoningDHV
Building Physics: Ingenieursbureau Peutz bv
