New Galliera Hospital Genova project integrates medical and organizational aspects with architectural and landscape issues, in a holistic approach.
To fit smoothly into the urban district of Carignano, the intervention is articulated in two parts: the semi-hypogeum plate which follows the irregular shape of the plot, and the epigean elements that take over the regular size of the existing surrounding buildings.
More specifically, the semi-hypogeum plate is composed of four levels (logistics, emergency rooms, operating rooms, outpatient) covered by a roof garden that connects the different elevations of the plot (from lev. +25.00 to +38.40 asl). The roof garden becomes reminiscent of the urban gardens that historically characterized the site.
The epigean elements are regularly designed for maximum sanitary efficiency embodying the logical scheme of the contemporary “Hospital Network”. From an urban design point of view, the epigean elements create the connection with the context: size, proportions and alignments are derived from the existing facing buildings on Via Vannucci and Corso Mentana.
Between the roof garden of the semi-hypogeum plate and the epigean elements there is a transparent and permeable level allowing the epigean elements to “float” above the garden. Visitors are able to visit the patients through the garden without crossing the sanitary plate.
The facade of the wards is characterized by vertical brise-soleil to ensure privacy, while allowing good shading and good transparency to the outside landscape. The brise-soleil are composed of thin ceramic elements that give the hospital an “atmospheric” appearance, assuming the colours of the clouds, dispersing the sun rays, and maximizing the perception of the natural environmental variations.
The roof garden links the two entrances: the North-East public entrance and the South-West emergency entrance. The garden generates inclined surfaces along the perimeter of the plot, which reveals only the three highest levels of the epigean elements (actually the whole building is composed of nine floors).
In this way a continuous garden creates the organic connection between the hospital and the city.