Regional cancer Institute, Besançon University Hospital

The Institute states its own identity whilst organising itself as an extension of existing buildings. Its presence is used to reorganise and unify a fractured hospital site. The project’s volumetric composition expresses the diverse requirements of the project brief using a unifying vocabulary.

The base of the building extends the plinth of the existing hospital over two levels. The more transparent intermediary section welcomes the public, while the laboratories at the top crown the building with a sober architecture that looks south towards a landscape of hills.The regular volume of the building is organised around two courtyard gardens. Circulation and waiting areas are open onto these islands of green space. The architectural treatment, the colours and light, makes these areas convivial and softens the cancer treatment units. In this way the architecture contributes to the patients’ well-being.