Voorburg Treatment Centre
Sustainable pavilion offers state-of-the-art care, bathed in daylight and floating in greenery
Voorburg Treatment Centre
A site once occupied by the Forum Hadriani, a prominent Roman settlement and now a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Voorburg, is now the location of the new Treatment Centre. The centre is part of the Reinier de Graaf Groep. Voorburg thus retains a healthcare campus with space for blood collection and outpatient clinics, among other things. These clinics offer support in all stages of life: it is very elegantly called Lifecycle Healthcare. The clinic has a radiology department and a state-of-the-art fertility centre with laboratory where doctors perform almost all fertility tests and IUI, IVF and ICSI treatment.
Pavilion in greenery
Archeologie Bescherming
The Treatment Centre is built on the site of a former apartment complex for nurses, which belonged to the Deaconess Institute in Voorburg. The complex has been partially demolished, while large parts of it are set to be transformed. Because of the underlying valuable archaeological contours, it was only possible to build the new building on the existing foundation of the demolished nuns’ flat, which made the design considerably more challenging. Because of that limited
area, a considerable cantilever of the building was chosen. The large overhangs extend more than 5 metres beyond the foundation and allow the centre to ‘hover’ above the ground in the greenery as a friendly pavilion. The forecourt in front of the building also subtly acknowledges the site’s history with the contours of a miniature Forum. Here, pedestrians have priority and several parking areas and waiting and relaxation areas are located. Visitors reach the Treatment Centre by crossing a short footbridge.
Preserved wooden facade
IVF lab Glass print
Open, transparent and daylight
”
WITH THE ARRIVAL OF THIS WONDERFUL TREATMENT CENTRE, PATIENTS IN THIS REGION ARE ASSURED OF ACCESSIBLE MEDICAL CARE, CLOSE TO HOME. BUT WE ARE GOING ONE STEP FURTHER: WE ARE OFFERING A NEW WAY OF CARE TO HELP PEOPLE STAY HEALTHY FOR AS LONG AS POSSIBLE.
Prof. dr. Carina Hilders, Reinier de Graaf board chairman
Transparency and clarity
All around, the building has a high degree of transparency due to large vertical windows over the two floors. The park-like landscape can be experienced from indoors. Healthcare professionals and patients enjoy views of the surrounding greenery everywhere, where privacy allows. This offers relaxation and distraction, and helps visitors and care professionals to orientate themselves easily in the building. In places where privacy is necessary, such as the examination and treatment rooms, facade openings are detailed to ensure privacy. From the entrance, visitors are drawn up the stairs by the abundance of daylight. It is part of health promotive design that reinforces Lifecycle Healthcare here. On the floor above, they reach a large, open waiting area for the outpatient departments.
The facade is finished in vertical strips of wood. The strips are greyed thermal impregnated and are interrupted by floor-high clear glass windows. Service and emergency doors visible from the outside are neatly concealed in the wooden facade. The cantilevered ground floor and eaves form a clear-white frame on all sides of the building. At the entrance, the lower edge is raised to the first floor, creating a recognisable canopy above the fully transparent entrance.
The interior uses a calming colour palette to reduce stress. Patients and their loved ones are more likely to feel at ease as a result. Throughout the building, they see graphic references to the site’s Roman history. Routes for visitors and staff are separated as much as possible to allow both groups to move unimpeded through the building. Functions are logically grouped. For example, spaces for IVF treatment are positioned close together and around the IVF lab, and connected directly to one another. Staff wearing protective clothing enter the lab, a clean room, through an airlock.
Floor plan and section
Begane grond
1 Entreehal 2 Semenlab 3 Cryoruimte
Ground floor
4 IVF laboratorium
1. Entrance hall
6 Uitslaapkamer
2. Semenlab 3. Cryo room
4. IVF laboratory
Begane grond
grond
IVF laboratory
Recovery room
ET room
Ultrasound room
Staff dressing room
Offices
Ultrasound
X-ray room
Sustainable and healthy
The all-electric building is highly energy-efficient due to the presence of solar panels and six electric air-source heat pumps. Sensors control temperature and lighting per room, which can also be controlled via a tablet. A major contribution to sustainability, limiting material use, comes from reusing the existing foundation. On this, a structural framework was designed to accommodate the current building’s needs while allowing for future adaptation to suit evolving purposes. Given the rapid developments
in outpatient care, this makes it a sustainable and smart choice for healthcare real estate. The interior uses natural and circular materials with a low CO2 footprint. A special feature is that the floor finishes are taken back for reuse by the supplier at the end of their lifespan. High standards were set for finishes in the IVF lab and only emission-free materials were used. A healthy environment for a healthy new life!
Section A-A
Facts and numbers
Location
Voorburg
Client
Reinier de Graaf Groep, Delft
Architect
EGM architecten, Dordrecht
Interior architect
EGM architecten, Dordrecht
Project coordinator
EGM architecten, Dordrecht
Landscape architect
De mannen van schuim, Den Haag
Urban planner
De mannen van schuim, Den Haag
Structural engineer
Royal Haskoning DHV, Rotterdam
Mechanical engineering consultant
Deerns, Rijswijk
Electro technical consultant
Deerns, Rijswijk
Acoustic/building physics consultant
Wolf Dikken Adviseurs, Wateringen
General consultant
Wolf Dikken Adviseurs, Wateringen
Consultant other
Deerns, Rijswijk
Building Management
Stevens & Van Dijck, Zoetermeer
General contractor
Aannemersbedrijf J. van Daalen B.V., Gorinchem
Du Prie bouw en ontwikkeling b.v., Leiden
Mechanical engineering systems
Van Galen Installatietechniek BV, Rotterdam
Electro technical systems
Schoonderbeek Installatietechniek, Hillegom
Size 2,380 m² gfa
Design period 2019
Year of completion 2021
Programme
Fertiliteitscentrum, bloedafname, spreek- en behandelkamers, echokamer, röntgenkamer, poliklinieken
Photography
Frank van der Burg en Architectuurfotograaf
