NAU is a vast new hospital complex in Aalborg East serving the entire region of northern Jutland. The project also includes 25,000 m2 for Aalborg University’s Faculty of Health Sciences (SUND) and development of a master structure plan totalling around 330,000 m2 which includes the creation of Aalborg Psychiatric Hospital, an oncology house, patient hotel and extension of the outpatient house, a service village and chapel.

New Aalborg University Hospital has a consistent focus on the individual, both in the architectural expression of the hospital and in the overall structure and inner organisation, which aim to accommodate the patient and provide a patient flow. The consistent focus on the patient gives the hospital a strong identity, the best possible working conditions and optimised treatment options.

Character of a new district
The area plan of the construction has the character of a new district and is kept at human scale, with great variation in the buildings. The project consists of two parts, with the hospital being one and SUND – the Faculty of Health Sciences at Aalborg University – being the other. The two parts are placed close together to achieve synergy between the interdisciplinary development, collaboration and innovation of both health education and research activities.

Optimised logistics
The hospital is built around optimised logistics with a focus on safe and logical patient flow. Acute patients and outpatients are kept separate, with separate entrances and floor levels so the individual patient experiences the buildings as logical and manageable while moving systematically through the hospital. Inner and outer street spaces are the spine of the project. This is where people arrive, and where they orient themselves and spread out, whether patient, relative or personnel. The “streets” enable an overall internal coherence, proximity, short walking distances and variation in both architecture and experience.

The project is part of the government's quality reform in the field of health.