Location: Amsterdam, NL
Year: 2015
Gross Floor Area: 1.200 m2
Program: Urban Design,
Outdoor Space, Public, Commercial
Client: AMC, Amsterdam

The AMC (Amsterdam Medical Center) hospital in Amsterdam South East is home to one of the Netherlands largest and busiest hospitals with more than 3.5 million vehicular movements per year. The AMC is a university, hospital, and research facilities in one complex. On a daily basis the AMC has about 15,000 visitors, of which 2,300 students, 4,700 patients and 8,000 employees.

The complex covers over 125,000 m2 of floor space spread out over more than 20 buildings, 450,000 patients per year and room for 1,000 beds. The complex was complete in 1984 in the then ‘brutalist architecture’ style, and because of it’s age the main entrance to the AMC and the route from bus and metro stations to the entrance is so dilapidated and run down that it is not functioning properly and no longer safe.

The vision begins with the idea of a park campus concept that extends its connections from not only the station to the entrance but also the entrance to the surrounding business and housing neighborhoods literally as an ‘open hand.’ The ambition is for a well forested and greener area without borders and obstacles that can create qualitative meeting and resting areas for patients, staff, and students. Added to this is a new representative and transparent entrance building as the ‘traffic heart’ for pedestrians, cyclists, public transport, cars, taxis, and ambulances.