New pavilion of AGEL hospital in Šternberk with fermacell® partitions

The new internal pavilion has risen at AGEL Šternberk Hospital on the site of the former management building and near the main entrance to the premises. In addition to the internal department, the new building accommodates a bed department of neurology, an outpatient tract with specialized offices, and an intensive care unit for acute patients. For the cladding of the internal partitions of the new building, fermacell® fiber cement boards are used.

The existing internal department was originally housed in an old inadequate building, and instead of complicated repairs, the owner of the hospital, the Olomouc Region, opted for a new modern structure that meets future standards of the 21st century. The building has four above-ground and one underground floor. It is connected to adjacent pavilions by corridors that allow for the transfer of patients "dry-footed" to necessary examinations. The pavilion is low-energy and entirely self-sufficient, featuring photovoltaic panels on the roof and water recuperation. The model for the Šternberk pavilion was the II. Internal Clinic - Gastroenterology and Geriatrics of the Faculty Hospital in Olomouc, designed to passive building standards. Both hospital buildings were designed by Adam Rujbr Architects s.r.o.. The new pavilion in Šternberk was constructed by OHL ŽS starting in May 2020, completed in spring 2022, and has been fully operational since the summer.

Architectural studio Adam Rujbr Architects also has major hospital projects in its portfolio

The studio is based in Brno with an office in Prague and has rich experience with the design and implementation of a variety of residential interiors, family houses, residential complexes, as well as the reconstruction of apartments, houses, and other buildings. A special chapter includes buildings for culture, as the studio has authored several reconstructions of cultural houses, theaters, and multifunctional halls. Adam Rujbr Architects' portfolio also includes significant hospital projects – in recent years, their team of architects and designers has, for instance, designed facilities for hospitals in Tišnov, Olomouc, and at the Faculty Hospital in Královské Vinohrady, where, according to their design, a new building for dermatology and palliative care was constructed and a burns pavilion was reconstructed.

The internal pavilion in Šternberk is designed as a simple cubic structure that appears modern and straightforward due to its shape and material solution

Due to its simple shape and color, the building can accommodate distinctive features such as seemingly randomly arranged windows with anthracite frames, which contrast pleasantly with the simple mass and give it an element of originality. The boxes for the outdoor blinds and the roofing of both entrances, running along the eastern facade of the building, are designed in the same shade. The use of a limited number of colors and materials on the building allows for further aesthetic modifications in the surroundings of the new pavilion.

The new pavilion consists of an underground floor where the technical facilities of the building and staff changing rooms are located, followed by four additional floors

The first floor incorporates an outpatient tract with all specialty clinics. In the planned realization of the hospital's emergency department, the acute internal ambulance will temporarily be in these premises. The second and third floors are designated for the standard bed section, with thirteen double rooms on each floor. The last fourth floor houses an intensive care unit with ten beds.

Fermacell® has proven to be a single board for everything here too

The vertical load-bearing structures of the upper build of the building were designed as reinforced concrete monolithic walls and columns. According to Ing. Michal Surka from the studio Adam Rujbr Architects, the partitions are primarily made of fermacell® fiber cement boards in various compositions depending on the required fire resistance, acoustic requirements, and wall thickness. The partitions between the examination rooms and between the examination rooms and corridors have specific acoustic properties requirements. The weighted laboratory sound insulation of the designed partitions is Rw = min. 53 dB. All dividing structures must meet a minimum sound insulation standard of 47 dB. "We previously addressed wall coverings with classic or specialized gypsum boards for previously designed hospitals, but in the new pavilion in Šternberk, we opted for fermacell®. The reason is the high strength and mechanical resistance of these boards, and even with single-layer cladding, fermacell® meets the fire resistance and acoustic requirements we set for the internal partitions of the new pavilion. Another advantage is the space gained for internal distributions and faster implementation of the partitions."

Dipl.-Ing.(FH) Jaroslav Benák, head of the technical department of James Hardie Europe, adds to the advantages of using fermacell® boards in the project: "Fermacell® provides designers with the possibility of simple planning. Only one type of board is used in the project. No different colored boards with various properties, as is the case with drywall. It is one board for everything. This also ensures simple logistics and processing on site."

Name of the building: SMN a.s. – o. z. Nemocnice Šternberk – "Internal Pavilion"
Investor: AGEL Central Moravian Hospital a.s.
Project: Adam Rujbr Architects s.r.o.
Implementation period: 2020-2022
General contractor: OHL ŽS, a.s.
Competence of James Hardie Europe: fermacell® fiber cement boards for the cladding of internal partitions
Photo: Mgr. art. Filip Györe