Aurora is the title of Henning Larsen Architects’s entry for the new university hospital in Odense, Denmark. It was recently named among the three finalists. The iconic building complex provides an ideal framework for quality healthcare in the region of southern Denmark. The new Odense University Hospital (OUH) embodies an innovative building of high architectural quality, designed to meet the requirements and challenges of tomorrow. Like the goddess Aurora, the hospital finds renewal in the transition between old and new – and the conversion from tradition to modernity. The human scale supports the conception of the hospital as ”the good host” and a place where patients and visitors can easily orient themselves and feel at home. When approaching Aurora, you are met by an inviting and recognizable urban scale, where the complex is divided into varied units with each their clear entrance and reception area.
The individual is in focus in the circular city structure whose ground plan meets the requirements for a highly efficient, flexible and future-proof hospital and at the same time meets the employees, patients and other users where they are and with a high degree of respect. The New Odense University Hospital and Faculty of Health Sciences connect ”The Large House” with ”The City Quarters”. “The Large House” constitutes a continuous building stock with short distances, and ”The City Quarters” are made up of distinctive building units and intimate outdoor spaces. Diagnostic and treatment functions are placed in the lower, continuous floors constituting ”The Large House”, while the wards and outpatient clinics are located in the upper, detached building volumes.
