Located in the heart of Strasbourg, on the same site since the end of the 14th century, the Civil Hospital is the European capital’s main university hospital. Before the new ‘block’ hospital was built on its grounds in 2008, its historic typology perpetuated hygienic principles by allowing each department to be confined to an independent pavilion surrounded by a garden. Richter architectes et associés is responsible for transforming two hospital pavilions into a centre for research and development for high-tech medical companies.

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The project

2018. The year in which Richter architectes et associés won the Équerre d’argent for their psychiatric care centre in Metz-Queleu was also the year that Pascale and Jan Richter won the competition to renovate two former pavilions of Strasbourg’s civil hospital. The aim of the project was to transform these hospital buildings into a campus bringing together several organisations specialising in biomedical research. Named NextMed, the campus was to be housed in two buildings dating from the early 20th century, designed respectively by Paul and Karl Bonatz, the architects responsible for extending the Strasbourg civil hospital (1905-1914), and Patrice Bonnet, winner of the Grand Prix de Rome in 1906.

The two pavilions stand side by side, separated by some fifty meters of alleys and gardens meticulously designed by the Bonatz brothers. Construction of the first building (delivered in 1926), dedicated to the ENT department, was not completed under the supervision of the architects, who left Strasbourg before the work was finished – as evidenced by the disorganised roofs, which did not conform to the architects’ plans. As for Patrice Bonnet’s Blum pavilion (1921), its style combines neo-regionalism and orientalism (it is nicknamed ‘the pagoda’) and, in the last century, housed an amphitheatre for medical students.

On discovering this project site, protected by the high walls of the old hospital, the architects were seduced by the ‘subtle and perfectly measured’ composition of Paul and Karl Bonatz’s plan to extend the hospital. In particular, they recognised its great visual unity and the quality of its garden landscaping – inseparable features of a hygienist architect at the service of medical care. The conversion project enabled the architects to restore the hygienist ‘full/empty’ relationships established by the twentieth-century master plan, by eliminating the unsightly extensions that had sprung up in recent decades as a result of the need to expand the various hospital departments.

The ENT pavilion

The project owner, Société d’aménagement et d’équipement de Strasbourg (SERS) and its subsidiary Medtech Strasbourg, wanted to make NextMed the meeting place for a number of programmes, from research laboratories to training facilities and a business incubator. The structure of the ENT pavilion, with its spacious corridors and majestic volumes, is ideal for accommodating flexible tertiary spaces (open spaces, individual and shared offices, etc.).

Access to the building has been redirected to the south of the complex, where Richter architectes et associés has redesigned the forecourt. On all floors, the false ceilings that were installed in the second half of the twentieth century were removed in order to restore the original height of the door lintels; the floor levels were raised by 14 cm to allow the installation of an underfloor heating system, installed under parquet flooring that replaces the original tiling to enhance the corridors and workspaces. With the lift removed, which was brought up to standard and relocated, the vertical circulation space reveals an elegant hollow-core staircase, lit by a curved façade redesigned to magnify the space and by light fittings designed specifically for the project.

The roof designs created by the Bonatz brothers and neglected by the builders in the 1920s became the basis for the Richter sister and brother project. The lost attic space was reinvested, and the architects drew inspiration from the Bonatzian style to design a roof with dormer windows facing north, east and west. Insulated from the outside (20+10 cm), the roof and its framework are secured by the addition of a metal frame, which absorbs the additional loads while protecting against the risk of earthquakes.

Overall, the refurbishment of the ENT clinic will create almost 3,000 sqm of office space and 1,000 sqm of corridors. The final touch: the quality of the design, the level of detail and the care taken by the various craftsmen involved in the finishing touches have not been at odds with a reasonable budget, with the building costing just €1,700 per square metre. The modernity of this new programme is rounded off by the design of a crèche and bicycle storage area on the ground floor of the former ENT pavilion, and a company restaurant in the Blum pavilion.

The pagoda

The composition of the Blum pavilion, a former annex to the care buildings spread over four levels, has been completely revised by the studio. Redesigning the gardens that surround the building, the architects freed up and enlarged the narrow areaways that used to channel natural light to its underground level, making it bright and inviting by lowering the spandrel height of the existing small windows, which in some cases become vast bay windows.

The pagoda is now home to flexible office space on the ground and second floors, while the ground and first floors house the restaurant and cafeteria areas, as well as more informal presentation and meeting spaces, in keeping with the contemporary uses of the service sector and start-ups. The architects’ approach is deliberately restrained, to better reveal the singularity of the building – whose concrete roof takes on the appearance of a traditional Alsatian timber frame. A discreet homage to the bedroom that Adolf Loos designed for his wife Lina, sheer curtains mounted on an invisible rail envelop and filter the light that bathes the cafeteria area.

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Nextmed medical technology cluster and workplace, Strasbourg, France

Programme: Headquarters of medical technology companies, crèche, third-location centre
Client: SERS, Medtech Strasbourg
Project management: Richter architectes et associés (architects), SIB études (structure), Act’ Bois (timber structure), BET Gilbert Jost (electricity and fire safety system), Solares Bauen (fluids, thermal engineering and sustainable development), C2BI (construction economics and SPC), Euro Sound Project and DB Silence (acoustics), BIM Services (BIM manager), Bruno Kubler (landscaping), BET Plume (geothermal energy)
Surface: 132 sqm (restructuring) + 983,40 sqm (extension)
Cost: 9,5 million euros excluding VAT
Competition: 2018
Completion: 2024
Photographies: Luc Boegly

Refurbishment of the Blum pavilion (‘la Pagode’), Strasbourg, France

Programme: Mixed use complex, restaurant and reception room, offices
Client: SERS, Medtech Strasbourg
Project management: Richter architectes et associés (architects), SIB études (structure), Solares Bauen (fluids, thermal engineering and sustainable development), BET Gilbert Jost (electricity and fire safety system), Euro Sound Projet et DB Silence (acoustics), C2BI (construction economics and SPC), BIM Services (BIM manager), Bruno Kubler (landscaping)
Surface: 862 sqm
Cost: 3,2 million euros excluding VAT
Competition: 2018
Completion: 2024
Photographies : Luc Boegly