For the second time this year, the renowned trade journal “Beton- und Stahlbetonbau” has allowed us to publish a project report. While a new concrete building was portrayed in February with the Altdorf railroad station building, the October issue now focuses on an existing solid construction. Re-use of the load-bearing structure with a pioneering approach. In their article “Transforming instead of replacing – conversion of the Felix Platter Hospital, Basel”, the authors Matthias Kunze and Andreas Gianoli trace the history of the project from the perspective of the structural engineers.
The authors describe in detail the development of the conservation project – starting with the groundbreaking decision to preserve the building, the spinning of the conceptual “red thread” in the competition design work with Müller Sigrist Architekten/Rapp Architekten, the meticulous determination of the basic principles through to the demanding planning and execution of the renovation works.