Cantonal Hospital St.Gallen KSSG - House 10

Second new building of the KSSG-OKS generation project. 2009-2018

PROCEDURE, CLIENT, CONTRACTOR, TEAM
See overall project KSSG-OKS

KEY DATA
Floor area: 6,623 m2
Building volume: 27,172 m3
Planning: from 2011
Realization: 2016-2018
Construction costs SKP 1-9: approx. CHF 35 million

DESCRIPTION
Uses:
Ground floor: Network replacement facility, clinic for psychosomatics
1st floor: Endocrinology/diabetology, nutritional advice 2nd/3rd floor: Nephrology/haemodialysis outpatient clinic 1st floor: Endocrinology / Diabetology, Nutritional Counseling
2nd/3rd floor: Outpatient Nephrology / Hemodialysis
4th/5th floor: Outpatient Oncology / Hematology Notes 4th/5th floor: Oncology/haematology outpatient clinic
Notes:
In-situ concrete shell
Precast concrete columns and staircases
Aluminum façade
Two-storey steel truss passerelle
Art on the building: Jean-Christophe De Clercq, Champeix, France, Claudio Moser, Geneva

PHOTOS
Georg Aerni, Florian Brunner

SKIZZEN
Fawad Kazi

VISUALIZATIONS
Fawad Kazi Architekt GmbH, 3D model Building services: Amstein + Walthert AG

PUBLICATIONS
KSSG-OKSI - Project introduction and pavilion, ed. Marko Sauer and Christoph Wieser, Verlag park books, 2018
KSSG-OKSII - House 10, ed. Marko Sauer and Christoph Wieser, Verlag park books, 2021

LINK
FSB Architectural Tours - KSSG House 10

"Despite its geometrically simple form, House 10 creates an enigmatic impression. This has to do with the complexity of the heterogeneous surroundings, as well as the ambiguous appearance of the building."
- Lorenzo De Chiffre

A SUBTLE ROHFORM
Even the use of the building is not immediately apparent at first glance. And finally, the docking passerelle and the closely adjoining elevated garage on the west side create the impression that the building is closely interwoven with its surroundings.

Like a sculpture, the building only unfolds as a complex whole when viewed from all sides. If you move around the building from the upper main level of the hospital, you perform a spiral movement that contributes to the kinematic effect of the object. If you look at the dark brown building from the south, where the connecting bridge dominates the foreground, it evokes the association of a castle. A few steps further on, it is reminiscent of an ocean liner docked in the harbor due to its orientation parallel to the slope, the connecting bridge and the chimney on the west façade.

On the opposite side, from the north, the building looks more like a small office building. The slightly shimmering, vertically ribbed façade, reminiscent of corduroy, creates a classically modern impression that makes the building look like a distant relative of Mies van der Rohe's bronze office towers. More daringly, however, it could also be said to be related to some of Hans Poelzig's buildings and designs: specifically his designs for a bank building in Dresden (1921) and the Meyer brothers' administration building in Hanover (1923/24). In these two designs, the relationship between the simple building form and the articulation of the envelope is particularly thematized.

Lorenzo De Chiffre, A subtle raw form (excerpt), KSSG-OKS II - House 10, ed. Marko Sauer and Christoph Wieser, Verlag park books, 2021

"You have to look at the gap between these supports. One millimeter, two millimeters at most. You concentrate only on this gap as you walk past, you keep walking and see how the gap continuously closes. You can see very clearly at this point how extraordinarily precise this was done. For me, this is the concept of Zen. I enjoy this precision. And this little observation gives me a completely different experience of space. For me, it's precisely these things that matter. That's the first thing I look for when I enter a room. If everything fits, then it's a real treat for me."
- James Licini

Fawad Kazi, James Licini, Marko Sauer, The Zen of Steel (excerpt), KSSG-OKS II - House 10, ed. Marko Sauer and Christoph Wieser, Verlag park books, 2021

Fawad Kazi Architekt GmbH
Langstrasse 14
8004 Zurich
Switzerland