zaha hadid among architects to design interior of ronald mcdonald house in hamburg-altona

zaha hadid among architects to design interior of ronald mcdonald house in hamburg-altona
all images courtesy of ronald mcdonald house

ronald mcdonald house charities assists families with seriously ill children who are receiving treatment far from home, by providing a residence for them so that they are able to stay close to one another during the difficult period of recovery. with housing complexes worldwide, the ‘ronald mcdonald house’ set to open in hamburg, germany — on the site of the altona children’s hospital — in summer of 2014, will include the involvement of 11 architecture teams who will help realize unique living suites for parents and siblings of young patients. the international firms participating in this initiative include: appia contract (germany); barcode architects (the netherlands); brandherm + krumrey (germany); EMBAIXADA (portugal); estudio.entresitio (spain); GRAFT (germany); hollein & partner (austria); low architecten (belgium); manuelle gautrand (france); raiserlopes (germany); sara spire (switzerland);  and zaha hadid architects (UK).

apartment 5 by zaha hadid architects

zaha hadid architects has created a space of well-being accommodating the needs of a long term alternative home for families within a 25 meter sq. space. the design is comprised of two shells – wooden one that lines the bottom half of the space, and a white one on top – that characterize the marine look and feel of the living areas. these two capsules meet at an undulating horizon line at approximately 1.2 meters high, that is highlighted by an indirect light strip that provides ambient luminosity. 

the wooden shell forms the parquet flooring and built-in furniture pieces that include a floating bed and elevated secretary, while alcove openings under and above these objects make the most of the third dimension by giving kids a place to climb as well as hide.

the zaha hadid-designed space is defined by a bottom wooden shell, and top white shell

the wood shell forms the built-in furniture

apartment 7 by manuelle gautrand

manuelle gautrand has conceived an apartment that is much like a cabin in the forest, filled with wood features that envelop the floors, walls and ceiling to some capacity. the concept behind her scheme is to assemble different levelled modular platforms, much like terraces, that create a series of furniture: benches, desks, seats, stages, tables etc. 

public areas by GRAFT

special feature of ronald mcdonald haus hamburg-altona is ‘oases’ (german for ‘oasis’ in english), a family room area that is jointly used by parents and children for bonding and regaining strength to face the demanding routines of the clinic and recovery. designed by GRAFT, the ‘oases’ connects common rooms ( kitchen, play or living room), forming a larger open space for interaction and social encounters.  

‘oasis’ family room by GRAFT

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