Henning Larsen Designs Lush Green Heart For Herlev Hospital Expansion

<a href="http://inhabitat.com/henning-larsens-winning-design-for-daylight-campus-roskilde/">Henning Larsen Architects</a> strongly believes in the power of nature as a healing agent, which is why their proposal for the Herlev Hospital expansion in Denmark includes green roofs, gardens and a lush <a href="http://inhabitat.com/eden-bio/">"green heart"</a>. Judges swooned over the vibrant and life-affirming atmosphere and awarded the firm first prize in the international design competition. The <a href="http://inhabitat.com/new-danish-odense-hospital-will-rely-on-beautiful-landscapes-to-aid-healing/">hospital</a> expansion will include three ringed buildings filled with natural daylight on rectangular bases surrounded and filled with a number of inviting, lush garden areas.

Situated next to the existing 26-story tower, the expansion will offer a variety of spaces and facilities needed in the hospital of the future, plus a number of outdoor environments, inner gardens and courtyards.

The overall vision of the team was to create a symbiosis between the hospital and its surroundings.

Both the building elements and the landscaping work together to form a cohesive space providing patients, visitors and staff an experience that is focused on the individual.

Healing through architecture is one of the ways Herlev Hospital will promote holistic health care.

Green roofs, lush courtyards and a large 'green heart' fill the space not occupied by buildings.

Hospital users will have convenient access to the green spaces both physically and visually with landscapes designed as pictures for viewers inside.

The courtyards also help draw in lots of natural light into the interior spaces of the hospital.

”We know that nature has a healing and calming effect on humans. At a hospital, this is of significant importance. In our proposal, the landscape thus plays a very central role – not only around but also in the middle of the buildings. Herlev Hospital will be a luxuriant, vibrant and green hospital, where patients will not only feel better than they normally do at a hospital – they will also recover in a shorter time”, says Stig L. Andersson, Creative Director in SLA, the landscape architects behind the winning proposal.