First and foremost it is about the medical and care-related collaboration between the hospital and other institutions. As soon as institutions with their own specialisations and expertise actually come, new care paths and treatment methods are created for associated problems. This creates interconnections and patients are no longer sent from pillar to post.
Moreover the positioning of the hospital on the healthcare boulevard contributes to the social integration of the hospital into the district. With the choice of the right tenants (for example a chemist, aids shop, blood bank and mass screen¬ing) it is also possible to attract healthy people to the hospital premises. Also including the district facilities in the concept creates a real mix of hospital visitors and the district's residents. The hospital is then less isolated and frightening. Barriers are overcome.
Facilities such as hotel and catering and shops in the lifestyle and health sectors contribute to a positive experience of the area. That reflects upon the experience of the hospital. By bringing public facilities out of the hospital (for example the staff and visitors' restaurant and crèche) a physical connection is made between the experience of the environment and that of the hospital.
Lastly, the healthcare boulevard offers an opportunity for the hospital to use the space in the health centre as a physical buffer if it grows. And at the right time the hospital can also choose to give certain parts of the scheme more of their own identity - more separate from the hospital - on the healthcare boulevard. Here one might think of the plastic surgery polyclinic or the rehabilitation department.
EGM architecten has wide experience in designing for the hospital sector, psychiatry, catering and healthcare and also for offices and retail. From its experience it has acquired a good understanding of the developments in these sectors. EGM is in fact involved in the biggest and most important health¬care boulevard developments in the Netherlands. In addition to the Rotterdam Healthcare Boulevard there are the Health Park in Dordrecht and the Jeroen Bosch Hospital in 's-Hertogenbosch. Both projects have their own specific healthcare boulevards.
Here EGM looks beyond an architecturally good building. It is equally concerned about the process of collaboration between the various parties and is therefore a natural discussion partner both for the project developers of such an initiative and for the healthcare professionals.
EGM architecten also has people on its staff who have supported such projects on the client's side from initiative to implementation.
For EGM such projects include the task of leading the separate parties to a common goal: a well functioning complex, an environment in which visitors feel good and that forms part of the community by integrating well with the city. As an architect you play an essential role in keeping those parties together. As an architect, it is the art of supervising the quality of the entire plan and ensuring a high-quality environ¬ment in which the laws of the market (can) apply.