Garden of health

Faculty of Architecture and Design STU in Bratislava

Project idea

The property is located in Wroclaw, Poland. It is a part of Park Skowroni in the center of the hospital complex. The task was to design "Garden of health" - a space for movement and free-time activities of all age groups.

Our idea was to preserve the existing park as much as possible (sidewalks, trees, etc.) and to create one megacomplex in the site. We gave it a working title "patchwork". The surfaces are connected in a regular grid. The whole proposal is based on an ecological principle. We use recyclable or recycled materials (wood, recycled concrete pieces). Activities are focused on a healthy lifestyle (e.g. workout, playground, climbing wall, salt cave).

Project description

The park is divided into 9m wide stripes. Each stripe is purposed for a specific activity, i.e. there are several activities. Each of them is differently materially treated as the ones with whom they are neighbors. After entering the complex from the south-west end of the park, we find ourselves at the water element (rainwater garden pond collecting water from the roof and other solid surfaces). On the right is the music pavilion. There is also the main building (info/store and café) and a workout behind it.

There is a playground "cage" next to the café. On the opposite side of the pavement, there is a pitch with seating, salt cave, and herb pavilion. On the roof of the salt cave, there is a water reservoir for the gardening pavilion. These two pavilions also contain openings filled with reused bricks and natural materials with perforations, such as branches, cones. This creates an environment for useful insects, like wild bees.

In the next stripe, there is a community gardening (gardening pavilion) with lots of flower pots. In the last strip, there is a building that serves as a climbing wall. On top of this building, there is a viewpoint and inside the building is storage for the gardening pavilion. Around climbing wall is a bike road.

Technical information

The main building has wooden construction (OSB boards). It has special concrete pile foundations a little bit above the ground that reduces the footprint of the building. In the interior is massive accumulation wall. During winter, mowed branches from the park are burned in the stove, which is in front of this wall. There is a possibility to create closed vestibule (winter entrance) via a moveable wall in the building.

Walls of a salt cave, herb pavilion, and climbing wall are from recycled concrete. The playground has a steel construction. On top of it are wooden shields. The ground is covered by sand or rubber mats made of mowed tires. Bike road is made of eco asphalt molded in lower temperatures. Footbridge made of wood is placed above a water element. Wooden construction also has a music pavilion.