The Medical Centre Leeuwarden (MCL) will begin work on a new building in 2023. The almost completely new MCL should be completed by 2035 at the latest. It is designed by EGM architects.
The intensive care unit and operating complex will be built first. New-build is needed in order to provide high-quality, innovative patient care now and in the future. Willem Lenglet, member of the Executive Board: “We are a hospital that provides specialized clinical functions and complex care. That calls for a building with all the technical infrastructure needed to continue offering that care. Digitalization is just one of the developments that we are focusing on.”
The most important starting point for the new building is to be able to provide the best possible patient care in a sustainable way. But functional modernization is difficult to achieve within the existing OR complex and the ICU. That is why the first phase will focus on the OR and the ICU. The clinics, outpatient departments and support units will follow later.
According to programme manager Joost Willems, MCL will not construct all buildings at the same time because this will enable the hospital to respond effectively to developments in care in Friesland. “We know exactly what we want with the first phase of new development. For example, in the new complex we will create a hybrid OR in which advanced imaging equipment is part of the OR space.” Besides the new OR complex, there will be a state-of-the-art ICU with a ‘healing environment’ with a focus on reactivating patients.
We particularly want to do that in a sustainable and energy-saving way. That is why we will build sustainably
Another important reason for the new development is the energy transition in the climate agreement. Lenglet: “We believe that we bear a big social responsibility in terms of how we provide care. We particularly want to do that in a sustainable and energy-saving way. That is why we will build sustainably. The MCL campus will not use any fossil fuels. We want to make use of geothermal heat, which means extracting heat from the ground.” Furthermore, the new buildings will meet high sustainability standards. MCL will also demolish the oldest buildings that cannot be renovated sustainably.
The new MCL building forms part of the hospital’s strategic policy up to 2030. MCL is working on this new development together with Noorderbreedte care provider to ensure that patients receive the best possible care in the right place: highly specialized at MCL and recuperation where needed within Noorderbreedte, with patients able to transition smoothly from hospital to Noorderbreedte. The municipality of Leeuwarden is closely involved in the urban elaboration of the plans.
The design by EGM architects is currently being elaborated by a team that includes MCL, ptg advies, Royal HaskoningDHV, Aronsohn, and Urbis.