A 290-bed public hospital has recently opened its doors in Solothurn, Switzerland, with the base structure as well as the patients’ ward above fitted with triple insulating glass manufactured by Glas Trösch.
The first construction phase was launched in the middle of 2021, and construction phase two is scheduled for completion in 2026.
Inside, around 3.5km of glass partition walls and doors have been used, which let in natural light while fulfilling functions such as fire protection, privacy and noise protection.
Having reached its capacity limits for quite some time, however, the hospital held an international architecture competition for a new building in 2008.
The contest was won by Silvia Gmür Reto Gmür Architekten with their design for an L-shaped base structure surmounted by a six-storey high-rise building.
Glazing in the public areas
The triple glazing in the SILVERSTAR SUPERSELEKT 35/14 T execution supplied offers efficient summer heat protection with a g-value of only 12 percent.
It was therefore possible to dispense with external shading, which gives the base structure a clear and distinctive appearance.
The patients’ ward marks the intersection of the two wings of the L-shape.
The curtain-type shading system, which consists of 1,740 sculptural elements made of white concrete, has a distinctive effect.
The actual facade behind it consists of floor-to-ceiling full glazing. Here, too, triple insulating glass was selected, but with a different functionality than in the case of the base structure.
The SILVERSTAR COMBI Neutral 51/26 was used, which combines basic heat protection with good thermal insulation.
The latter is improved even further by an additional coating and thus achieves an extremely low Ug value of 0.51 W/m²K with an impressive 44.5 percent light transmission.
3.5 kilometres of glass partitions
Inside the new building, partition walls from the Swiss specialist BlessArt were installed, which are fitted with SWISSDUREX tempered safety glass.
Solothurn Public Hospital was the first hospital in Switzerland to be certified according to the Minergie-ECO standard, which also takes into account the aspects of “daylight” and “indoor climate”.
The building won the “best architects award” in 2021.