PUMCH Translational Medicine Building

Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), Nickl & Partner Architectural Design Consulting Co.

The tradition-steeped Peking Union Medical College Hospital (PUMCH), founded in 1906, will be expanded with a research building for translational medicine. Nickl & Partner Architectural Design Consulting Co. won second place in the international competition, which included a preliminary, open application procedure.

In addition to spacious foyer and exhibition areas, lecture halls, laboratories and work places, the space programme includes bedrooms for study subjects on the top three floors, examination and treatment rooms, a bio resource library and a technology platform.

Communal areas arranged as open landscapes are intended to promote interaction and communication between the students and scientists.

The façade picks up on the double helix DNA model in the form of metal sunscreen elements. They form a second skin, a shell that emphasises the high-tech character of the building and lends special elegance to the building’s cubic form. In a reference to the traditional green roof that characterises the historic PUMCH building, the façade opens at an acute angle over the entrance area.