Grand opening of new children’s hospital in Hamburg

• ZÜBLIN finishes construction of one of Europe’s most modern children’s hospitals
  
• Complex construction project handed over on schedule

The Werner and Michael Otto University Children’s Hospital, a part of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE), has celebrated its grand opening after three years of construction. ZÜBLIN, in its role as general contractor, successfully completed the complex turnkey construction project and handed it over to the client on schedule. Business Unit Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein of ZÜBLIN’s Subdivision North, which had overall responsibility for the project, was able to count on the know-how and years of experience of its specialty team for hospital construction. The new children’s UKE is one of the most technologically advanced children’s medical centres in Europe and is fully adapted to the medical needs of children and youths and their families. One third of the total cost of € 69.5 million was financed by donations.

“The children’s UKE is a modern and pioneering building in which we can see to the needs of young patients and their parents even better than before. I am happy that the construction could be realised on time and within budget and I would like to thank all those who made this building possible through their financial, creative and active support,” Prof. Dr. Burkhard Göke, Medical Director and Chairman of UKE, said at the ceremony with several hundred invited guests.

The new building on the campus of the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf has a gross floor area of about 18,000 m² and comprises emergency room, outpatient centres, inpatient wards, children’s ICU and a bone marrow transplantation unit. The façade is made of aluminium window rows and elements as well as clinker brick and wood cladding. In the adjacent old wing, ZÜBLIN renovated three operating rooms with a total area of approx. 3,000 m².

Combined expertise for clinic construction

“The children’s UKE also was a special project for us, the kind of project you feel good about working on and that you put all of your energy into as a team to make sure it gets done. We are proud that we’ve succeeded. Our thanks go to UKE and to all of our partners for the very good and very cooperative working relationship,” said Nick Niemann, project manager from ZÜBLIN’s Business Unit Hamburg/Schleswig-Holstein. In Hamburg, ZÜBLIN combined its expertise for clinic construction and put together a specialised team that has already completed several reference projects in Hamburg over the past few years – such as the construction of Asklepios Klinik Barmbek and HELIOS ENDO-Klinik or the expansion of the Israelite Hospital. “In clinic construction, the standards for ventilation and air conditioning, utility supply security and hygiene are especially high. That requires experienced and specially trained engineers – and we’ve got them,” says Niemann.

Children’s UKE with large range of treatments

The 148-bed children’s UKE has the latest in state-of-the-art medical technology. The hospital treats many of the important illnesses from children and youth medicine with a focus on serious, rare, complex and unexplained diseases such as metabolic disorders, cancer and neurological disorders as well as on liver, kidney and bone marrow transplantations. The rooms in the children’s hospital take into account the special needs of young patients and their families. There are playrooms for children and youth as well as lounge areas for parents with a pantry and seating options.

The paediatric departments will start moving into the new building on 21 September with no interruption to their services. Clinic operations should be fully moved into the new children’s UKE by 29 September. The new children’s hospital will be a workplace for a total of 600 employees.