In the design of Orbis (now Zuyderland) Medical Centre in Sittard, the patient is central. That sounds very logical, but it turned out that consistent enforcement of this principle turned upside down a lot of automatic thinking. This resulted in a hospital with only single rooms, with living rooms in the corridors where people can meet, and a vibrant atrium that brings the building to life.

The choice was made for a building with a linear structure, in which the axis is formed by a central covered ‘street’. All directly public and patient-oriented functions are adjacent to this. This street is a covered public area that also offers possibilities for extension or filling in, without having to make concessions to the mutual relationships between the functional centres. Flexibility was a keyword in the design process. In addition to volume flexibility (expandability), there is conversion flexibility (the possibility to move functions) and also so-called initial flexibility (the freedom to decide on the final layout as late as possible). The choice for a technical intermediate layer was also a result of flexibility considerations.