The brand new building for UZ Leuven woman, child and heredity has officially opened on Gasthuisberg campus. The building is a new link in the master plan of the Gasthuisberg campus. 

Architecture

Woman Child and Heredity consists of two buildings connected by a bridge: a sand-colored brickwork volume in which ambulatory care and hospitalization are located and a gray volume in concrete panels with offices and the hospital school.Visitors enter the central hall via a spacious arcade, which crosses the entire building. Counters are positioned in the space as freely formed volumes that nicely contrast with the orthogonal architecture of the building. The woman, child and heredity building section is 38,000 m2, of which 30,000 m2 is for VKE and 8,000 m2 is for the administrative building section. 

Warmth and softness

It is a building for the softer side of our society: women and children, and this has been anticipated. The building presents as a large independent volume on an urban level, but achieves a human scale as you approach. This is due to refined masonry details with long flat stones, impact-free masonry. 

Daylight

The extensive attention to the patient is a recurring theme throughout the project and we can feel that in the end result. Demand for daylight was high on the priority list. This is achieved through large windows and daylight patios. There are virtually no patient corridors with two closed facades, one goes from daylight to daylight.This is not only pleasant, but also good for the orientation of the users of the building. The most important asset in the field of healing environment is daylight penetration deep into the building. 

Numbers

Start of construction: 2014

End of work: 2018

38,000 m²

118 beds of pediatrics

8 places day hospital for women

30 places day hospital children

65 beds maternity ward

12 delivery rooms