LVR Clinic Essen Outdoor therapy

Design of the outdoor spaces for the new building of the child and adolescent psychiatry of the LVR Clinic in Essen, taking into account relevant requirements for outdoor facilities in the health sector.

The LVR Clinic in Essen has expanded its location with a new building - a clinic for child and adolescent psychiatry. The new building complex was erected opposite the existing clinic building. In terms of landscape architecture, the planning focused on the development of the entrance situation, the elaboration of the themed courtyards and the edges of the building as well as the urban transitions.

The central access to the clinic is via a generously designed forecourt to which the main entrance and the delivery are connected. The circular plaza with planting islands links the new building with the adjacent existing building and forms the new entrance situation.

The four inner courtyards of the clinic area (patient gardens) are thematically structured and are given different appearances. Here, the planning conceptually addresses the needs of the patients through sensory and experience elements, rest and retreat zones as well as visual attractions and thus sees itself as an extension of the clinic's therapy offer in the outdoor space. The individual areas are given one or more senses as a motif, each of which is addressed in a special way. The function and equipment of the outdoor areas is adapted in each case to the use within the nearest part of the building.

The sports and play yard promotes the movement of the patients with various equipment elements such as basketball hoop and football goal. In the courtyard of tranquility, the focus is on silence, retreat and moderate exercise. The highlight are beach chairs, in the immediate vicinity of which tube telephones have been placed to encourage communication between patients in a playful way. Experience through vegetation is the main focus in the courtyard of the four seasons. An appropriate selection of plants ensures that the garden is attractive all year round and that its colour concept has a positive effect on the patients. The stone courtyard is a representative area and can be used by visitors and staff as a waiting and recreation area.

The outdoor area of the open ward to the east of the ward building is divided into areas for adults, small and primary school children and adolescents in accordance with the use in the building, tailored to their needs and equipped with age-appropriate equipment elements, such as a pavilion with punching bag for the adults, a streetball field for the adolescents and various play facilities for small and primary school children.