Project parameters
The construction of New Aker is planned in two stages, where the greater part of the construction is scheduled for the first stage. After the construction of stage 2, New Aker will be the largest local hospital in Norway with a total area of 206,800 m2, including reconstructions.
The entire site of the new hospital is 18.6 hectares, and it is situated on a hill above the city with a view of the surroundings in several directions. Together with the existing buildings, the new hospital buildings will facilitate future patient treatment. Together they will enrich each other and form a meaningful physical expression of the development in medicine and health. We have therefore emphasized good integration of old and new, buildings and green areas, logistics and traffic, in order to add value to the patient treatment, the city, the landscape and the people.
The site plan is based on the analysis made in the draft project from 2019 (prepared by the Nordic Office of Architecture, AART, Cowi, et al.), where a concept called "View" was selected from a number of alternative structural proposals.
Architecture
The site plan consists of two urban spaces, Sinsenaksen and Akerløperen, at right angles to each other with an access square at the point of intersection. The urban spaces are designed as straight street spaces open to the surroundings in all directions.
The urban spaces provide architectural, functional, traffical and visual organising of the area and enable everyone in the area to use the qualities of the area, including those not associated with patient treatment and other hospital-oriented activities.
The urban space approach separating buildings for somatic medicine, mental health care and technical/supply, means that the area is perceived as uncluttered, accessible and friendly.
The facades are three to four stories high against the urban spaces, since the high rises are withdrawn. The cornice is also broken up and withdrawn where possible in order to vary the expression.
At the outer edges of the site, the building stock is broken up into smaller buildings placed in a park. These will be a combination of new buildings for mental health and addiction (PHA) and upgrades of existing buildings.
The exterior concept is based on the main architectural approaches. The goal is to give each building its own character while supporting an overall approach, and that the hospital is perceived as a place with its own identity, without becoming monotonous.
The facades near the urban spaces are to be detailed so that they are perceived as rich and interesting at close range, while being general and flexible with regard to changing functions over time. Robust and tactile qualities are emphasized, as well as open facades where possible to create contact between the interior and the exterior.
The existing listed buildings contribute to a varied building environment and human scale, and provide the premise for selecting facade materials for large portions of the new buildings.
Function
The somatic medicine building is centrally located in the area, and the building stock is oriented along Akerløperen towards the east and Sinsenaksen towards the south. The building consists of a base and a high rise. The base contains functions such as surgery, intensive care, image diagnostics, laboratory medicine, sterile centre, pharmacy production, outpatient clinic and day treatment, high security isolation and emergency care.
New Aker will be a university hospital, and high-quality teaching areas with classrooms and auditoriums of various sizes and functions will be integrated in the base. Functions such as 24-hour areas and offices will be located in the high rise.
The new PHA buildings (mental health care and addiction) south of the main building are defined by Sinsenaksen and the access square in the north, Akerløperen in the east and Trondheimsveien in the west.
Sinsenveien 76, an existing construction from 1941, is situated between PHA North and PHA South. The construction is supplemented by two new buildings connected with the existing ones.
The construction consists of a goods and distribution centre (VDS) and a technical central (TS), as well as a two-level warehouse.
Parts of the programme area for New Aker are placed in existing buildings, which are to be renovated and reconstructed. The reconstruction project encompasses a total of nine buildings, out of which seven are listed.
The listed buildings represent important hospital history at Aker. They contribute to a diverse architectural environment and a smaller scale at the new hospital area. The historical qualities of the buildings provide directions for the new buildings and will give life to New Aker.
Implementation
The architectural group with its advisors, "Team New Aker", was contracted in the summer of 2020. The basis of the work was a draft project report prepared by the Nordic Office of Architecture, AART Architects, Bjørbekk & Lindheim landscape architects, COWI, Norconsult, and Metier OEC. The draft project was submitted to the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority HF (HSØ) in November 2019 and approved in the spring of 2020. All work in the design group is based on the architectural, technical and organisational assumptions of the draft project. Modifications are suggested only as a natural development of the project, and are sought to be carried out within the framework given in the concept phase.
Safeguarding activities on and near the site, including hospital operations, is crucial during the construction period.
There will be a large construction site with many participants, many interfaces and a great degree of concurrency to be safeguarded. This will provide the premises for implementing the construction.
Vital issues to be considered and planned for, are, among others: Noise, dust and vibrations in and near the residential area, the impact on patients in the emergency room and health arena, traffic on the local road network, temporary road blocks, conflict with heavy traffic and securing delivery of goods to businesses, evaluation of whether future or temporary solutions affect access to and from the building pit, location of rig area and the handling of masses.
It will be vital to provide accurate information to all participants and affected parties throughout the construction project. All experience indicates that this must be given priority.
Environment
The environmental goals proposed in the preliminary project are a continuation of environmental goals set in the environmental programme and the environmental monitoring plan (MOP) defined in earlier phases. The environmental goals are to correspond with the guidelines provided by the environmental goals of the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority HF, anchored in the "Green Hospital" Project Report II. "Green Hospital" is an environmental collaboration arena for the 4 hospital trusts. This forms a specific basis for the environmental monitoring plan in this phase.
The project owner has assumed that the somatic medicine building, PHA North and South are to be BREEAM certified and reach the level Very Good. The other buildings only have their own MOP. The part of the building stock that is to be rebuilt is subject to protection to a large extent. An environmental monitoring plan adapted to the protection requirements is being prepared. However, it is based on the "Standard for Climate and Environment in Hospital Projects" prepared by the Norwegian Hospital Construction Agency and approved by the South-Eastern Norway Regional Health Authority HF.
The development of models in accordance with the principles of open BIM has been at the centre throughout the preliminary project phase. The design group uses BIM360 with Autodesk Revit 2022, which enables data storage on a server location in the EU. Routines have been created for the accessibility and updating of the collected and produced materials, so that all professions use quality assured, updated materials in their working models at all times. Visualization of the received material has been a focal point in the interdisciplinary model, providing professions with additional sources of information when solutions are being detailed.
