Hospital Nova wins the prestigious European Healthcare Design Award
The architecture of the new Hospital Nova of Central Finland, was awarded as the winner of the internationally renowned European Healthcare Design Awards in London on 14 June 2022. Designed by JKMM Architects, Nova represents a new generation of hospitals both in Finland and globally: it is not only a new type of hospital building, but also a holistically renewed healthcare operation system.
EHD 2022 Awards celebrate and recognise professional excellence in the design of healthcare environments both in Europe and around the world. It is intended that the Awards will globally contribute towards the development of knowledge and standards in the design of healthcare environments.
Earlier this week in London, an international jury of healthcare researchers and professionals awarded Hospital Nova as the winner of the most prestigious Healthcare Design (over 25 000 m2) category of the EHD Awards. What is unique about Hospital Nova is that, in terms of both functional concept and building type, it has been designed entirely from the first principles. It is the first new build general hospital to open in Finland since the 1970s. Nova, opened for patients in January 2021, comprises more than 116 000 gross square metres, bringing together all the functions of a central hospital and primary health care under one roof. The full-service Nova is designed to last for the next 100 years.
The aim of the project was to create a new generation of Finnish hospitals, where the traditional hospital building type and user interface were rethought. The hospital is people-oriented and modernises processes. The concept was developed in close cooperation with the hospital. The holistic approach to the concept development was made possible by JKMM’s in-house team responsible for the hospital’s main design, architecture and interior.
Hospital Nova’s robust architecture conceals a functionally and visually integrated entity, inspired by Finnish nature. The local national parks as the main design theme helped to create welcoming and human spaces, a healing hospital environment, with an exceptionally large art programme inspired by local nature, as well.
“Nova’s award-winning hospital architecture is part of a wider transformation in society, building infrastructure for happiness. Hospitals are being renewed across Europe, and Nova Hospital represents the spearhead of the new generation of Finnish healthcare. The functional concept, spatial design and logistical solutions of the new hospital building have been completely redesigned. The design work, which started in 2012, focused on close cooperation with the hospital and a patient-first approach from the very beginning,” says Teemu Kurkela, lead designer of Hospital Nova and founding partner of JKMM Architects.
The European Healthcare Design 2022 Awards winners has been revealed in the winners’ ceremony organised in London on 14 June in conjunction with the European Healthcare Design 2022 Congress & Exhibition. The Congress, organised for the eighth time this year, provides an international forum for researchers and practitioners to explore the relationship between health service and system design, technology and infrastructure.
Congratulations for the whole team on the high-level recognition!
Read more about the Hospital Nova project here.