3XN unveils sculptural interiors of near-complete children's hospital

the copenhagen children’s hospital is nearing completion

Construction is almost complete for the new National Children’s Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, led by architecture studio 3XN. The 58,000 sqm project is born out of a winning design for the Rigshospitalet, revealed back in 2017 under the title BørneRiget. The new hospital wing for children, adolescents, and pregnant women at Rigshospitalet, will accommodate up to 900 patients and 1,200 doctors, nurses, and other staff members. Concept-wise, the hospital emphasizes the power of play as an integral part of medical treatment, pushing the winning team to shape the structure like two interlocking hands supporting all pediatric care aspects under one roof.

Earlier this summer, Her Royal Highness Crown Princess Mary of Denmark visited the new Children’s Hospital to attend the topping-out ceremony. On the occasion of the Crown Princess’ 50th birthday, the hospital was officially renamed ‘The Mary Elizabeth Hospital’. Following the topping-out ceremony, 3XN has recently shared additional construction images of the near-complete interior concrete structure, showing the interlocking ‘hands’ coming to life. See designboom’s full coverage below.

image © Stig Gothelf | all courtesy 3XN Architects

a ‘home-esque’ design by 3xn evoking two INTERLOCKiNG hands

With its design, 3XN (see more here) — who developed the project alongside Arkitema Architects, consultants NIRAS, Rosan Bosch Studio, and Kristine Jensens Tegnestue — sought to revolutionize the entirety of the patient and family experience during treatment. Essentially, the hospital will allow patients to spend as much time as possible with their families. ‘The ambition is to create a hospital with a home-esque and informal atmosphere where patients and their families will have a safe journey with relatable contexts and playful frameworks,’ wrote Stig Vesterager Gothelf, Design Partner at 3XN.

With a ‘ Playfully Logical ‘ design, the new Children’s Hospital (BørneRiget) takes its point of departure in two hands that stretch their fingers into the light, the city, and the green. As an organizational principle, the hands are implemented in the entire building with a marked public center, which provides a lounge area for the family who make up the wrist. Each ‘finger’ provides bays, and at the end of each finger winter gardens, stretching to the second floor, unfold with different themes and experiences that accommodate the various patients’ needs – the woman in labor as well the teenager. The finger design ensures short distances to the individual bays in all fingers. It simultaneously provides a maximum distance of 7 – 20 meters from each inlet to the nearest garden – as in an ordinary house.

the project is expected to complete in 2026 | image © Stig Gothelf

Expected to finalize and open for use in 2026 (modified from its original completion year, 2024), the near-complete Children’s Hospital in Copenhagen, Denmark, will accommodate the following amenities: 176 beds for children and adolescents, 43 beds for adults, 15 operating rooms, 14 delivery rooms, 50 pre- and post-operative beds, 18 day hospital beds for children and adolescents, 57 ambulatory rooms for children and adolescents, 30 ambulatory rooms for adults, and 1 diagnostic center with nuclear diagnostics. Initial costs were set at $350 million USD — funded by the capital region of Denmark and Ole Kirk’s Fond.

image © Stig Gothelf

image of interlocking ‘hands’ coming to life | image © Stig Gothelf

image © Stig Gothelf

topping-out ceremony took place in June 2023 | image © Stig Gothelf

image © Stig Gothelf

render © 3XN

project info:

name: Copenhagen Children’s Hospital / The Mary Elizabeth Hospital

location: Copenhagen, Denmark

architect: 3XN Architects | @3xnarchitects

3XN team: Stig Vestager Gothelf, Anne Strandgaard Hansen, June Jung, Torsten Wang, Anja Pedersen, Anne Strandgaard Hansen, Dennis Carlsson, Gry Kjær, Kasper Hertz, Louise Villumsen, Marius Prom Colin, Pernille Ulgvig, Simon Thorius, Søren Nersting, Stine de Bang

collaborators: Arkitema, NIRAS, Rosan Bosch Studio, Kristine Jensens Tegnestue

total area: 58,000 sqm

expected completion year: 2026