The new general practitioner’s clinic in Ruinen, with a predominantly ground-level programme, is designed on an open site in the small village of Ruinen, positioned between the existing clinic and a dental practice. The former GP clinic has now been converted into a physiotherapy practice. In Ruinen, a deliberately non-nostalgic or non-historicising approach was chosen. Instead, the design adds a new layer to the site’s history, with a strong emphasis on the quality of the collective outdoor space. Through its communal spaces surrounding the building, the clinic integrates seamlessly into the scale of the surrounding structures.
The programme is relatively large, including consultation rooms for four doctors and a nurse, a pharmacy, a laboratory, and a surgical room. Most of the programme is situated on the ground floor. Following an extensive massing study to determine the optimal positioning of the programme on the site, an efficient organisational model in the form of a cross was ultimately chosen. This design ensures that the direct elevations of the building remain small in scale, fitting harmoniously within the village context and allowing the building to settle modestly into its surroundings.
w/ van der salm, Dwingeloo
