Semester/year: Autumn 2009
Supervisor: Lars Haukland External supervisor: Nils Ole Bae Brandtzæg
With the placement of the site, centrally in Oslo, the Grünercenter gives an alternative to other rehabilitation centers which often are placed more isolated in the countryside. The patients in the Grünercenter are in their last phase of the rehabilitation process. The goal has been to create a strong connection to the surroundings, to decrease the transition from living in the rehabilitation center to be living by themselves.
The building is mainly made up of three elements: a base, the inner volumes which are floating above the base, and a frame that holds the inner volumes together.
The base is a continuation of the outdoor landscape, an inside landscape-floor. It consists of ramps and stairs in varieted steepness, and flats. This inner landscape is meant as a place for working out, and as a social meeting place/hang-out. Underneath the landscape-floor are the training rooms and pool. Openings in the landscape-floor create inlets for light as well as visual contact down to the training rooms.
Within each department, the patient rooms are divided in smaller groups. These inner volumes, containing the patient rooms amongst other rooms, are connecting to the frame. Between the volumes, in-between-spaces are created. They are both in contact out of the building and in towards the inner landscape. The in-between-space functions as resting zones for the patients and the nurses, and as social spots. Patient rooms and offices are placed out towards the façade, while common rooms and conversation rooms used by everybody are placed inwards in the building.
The frame defines the outline of the site. It holds the inner volumes together. The frame lifts where openness is wanted, and it lowers where it’s a need to shield the inside rooms. Inside this frame wall lays insulation, electricity and warmth. By its depth, the frame gives a protection for the patient rooms connecting to it on the inside