With more than 10,000 employees and a world-wide recognition in cancer treatment and cancer research, the Erasmus University Hospital is the largest medical institution in the Netherlands. As part of a new campus master plan, including locating the oncology, Kopvol developed the OPPO prototype. The OPPO prototype stands for a new building typology, which combines outpatient medical care for cancer patients with psycho-social therapy in a functional, spatially flexible, aesthetic and healing supportive way. Up to now, in most European countries, the outpatient medical and psychological therapy of chronically ill patients has been separated. However, a nationwide study commissioned by the Dutch Ministry for the Environment, Planning and Housing (VROM) and the Fund for Architectural Stimulation (SFA) shows that this separation is contrary to the actual needs of those affected. Kopvol therefore attempts to create a visible and efficient link between medical and psychosocial care in which architecture is an integral part of the care concept and in which identity-creating elements of both care cultures are not lost. The OPPO prototype features important design criteria that can be used as a basis for the later design of such an environment, i.e. a so-called evidence-based design. The design criteria, include “human scale”, “noise and olfactory protection” and “wide view”, to name but a few. In 2010, Kopvol is appointed to the jury of the “Hedy d’Ancona Awards for Excellence in Healthcare Architecture” to evaluate these criteria as new standards in Dutch healthcare architecture.
Study results and design criteria are published in the monograph “Architecture as 2nd body. On the influence of the built environment on the well-being of cancer patients” (Koppen, Vollmer, 2010) published in Dutch; extracts published in journals in German and English. The complete publication in German language will be published in 2020.
Selected publications:
Vollmer, T. C., & Koppen, G. (2008). Unter welchem Dach liegt die Zukunft der Psychoonkologie? InFo Onkologie, 11(8), 591–594.
Vollmer, T. C., & Koppen, G. (2010). Architectuur als 2e lichaam: Ontwerpend onderzoek over zorgarchitectuur en ruimtebeleving bij kanker. 10/08-12/09 Eindrapport. Rotterdam.
Vollmer, T. C., & Koppen, G. (2010). Architectuur als tweede lichaam: De rol van architectuur bij de verzorging van kanker. Lay-out, 11, 1–16.
Vollmer, T. C., & Koppen, G. (2010). Fysieke en psychische vervreemding. In A. van der Leun & J. Rodermond (Eds.), Hedy d’Ancona Prijs voor excellente zorgarchitectuur 2010 (pp. 50–57). Rotterdam: Stimuleringsfonds voor Architectuur.
Vollmer, T. C., & Koppen, G. (2012). Het OPPO-gebouw, een voorbeeld voor de rol van architectuur binnen MVO in de zorg. KiZ – Tijdschrift over kwaliteit en veiligheid in zorg, 2, 26–28.
Vollmer, T. C., & Koppen, G. (2008). Under which roof lies the future of psycho-oncology? InFo Oncology, 11(8), 591-594.