A hospital building that aims for excellence through valuable architectonic and urban solutions and a major redevelopment project to renovate a problematic area of the city of Naples.

The Ospedale del Mare (Hospital of the Sea) built at Ponticelli, in the eastern quarter of Naples, was designed by IaN+, an architecture firm founded in 1997 by Carmelo Baglivo, Luca Galofaro and Stefania Manna. The building’s project is based on the guidelines of the hospital model designed by Renzo Piano on the request of the then Italian Minister of Health Dr. Umberto Veronesi. The firm conceived the hospital as en energy-efficient technological hub, capable of rapidly coping with patients suffering from diseases in the acute phase to be then redirected to their local healthcare structure. In the idea of Veronesi and Piano, the hospital was meant to be a welcoming and comforting place that had very little to do with the old 19^th century military-like buildings that sometimes house hospitals today.

 

 

The new hospital will inaugurate the first 90 beds in late June, while the other wards and the emergency room will be opened by the end of year.

Architect Galofaro declared: “The project of the new Ospedale del Mare in Naples is a reflection of the infamous Italian bureaucracy. Many years have passed from the project’s initial idea to its final completion. During all this time, our ideas have changed and so have we. But I believe that the project has kept its characteristics intact. It is an important work for us and I am sure it will be important for the city of Naples, too.”

For the Ospedale del Mare, IaN+ designed a great circular entrance hall that integrates reception services. The building’s exterior surfaces are clad with panels of reinforced concrete and glass in green and blue, which evoke the colours of the sea. Inside, large windows allow cascades of daylight to flood the interiors. Wall panels, transparencies and a small enclosed central garden help create the idea of being plunged into a luminous and comfortable environment.

 

 

The dialogue between the building and its exteriors is seen in the solutions chosen for the arrangement of the outdoor spaces. The front open space has two different types of paving; one is in resin and green pebbles and the other features lighter coloured slabs in concrete. The area includes bus stops, taxi parks, shelters, benches and a children’s playground.

The indoors and outdoors lighting systems installed for the Ospedale del Mare include many latest generation LED solutions supplied by Disano illuminazione. Outdoors, we find Stelvio LED, where maximum light efficiency ensures remarkable energy savings, further increased by a control system to monitor the ON/OFF times of each light point and dim lights at night.

Indoors, products like LED Panel (Disano) and Corner (Fosnova) offer the best lighting performance for lighting systems that are required to stay ON all day. Maximum power efficiency and long life are ensured by latest generation LED sources and materials that are made to last in time.

 

 

Photo credits by Mario Ferrara

The lighting system

The lighting system for the Ospedale del Mare in Naples fits a wide range of latest generation LED fixtures by Disano. In particular, the interiors include more than 5000 LED Panel recessed fixtures, which are perfect for hospital lighting as they ensure high energy savings over long-term use and extraordinary visual comfort. LED Panel distributes light evenly, avoiding any form of glare, with a true UGR<19 (the parameter required by standards) across the entire area illuminated by the fixture. Moreover, the high colour rendering index (CRI 93) increases comfort and enhances the lighting quality where the choice of colours is very important for the wellbeing of doctors and patients. What’s more, LED Panel belongs to the photobiological risk exempt group and is certified with the “low optical flicker” mark. Similar characteristics can be found in Minicomfort LED, with dark light optics, which stands out for the product’s energy efficiency as well as versatility and easy installation. Another fixture extensively used in the new hospital is Echo LED, the ceiling lamp resulting from years of experience proven by Disano in the manufacturing of this type of product, here available in the LED version. Nearly pieces were installed in the Ospedale del Mare.

Indoor lighting

The interiors of the Ospedale del Mare, shown in the beautiful photos of this article, have clean lines, large openings to daylight, and accurate selection of colours. Inside, lighting designers chose the recessed fixtures by Fosnova that match the high aesthetical quality of interiors and meet the technical requirements of important public buildings. The recessed spotlights of the Milano LED  and LEX LED family are a complete range of latest generation LED fixtures, offering low power consumption and high colour rendering for comfortable lighting that keeps its characteristics in the long-term. Fixtures also include Luthor, revolving spotlights in the BIG version with great power efficiency and versatility fitting COB LEDs.

 

Outdoor lighting

For the hospital’s outdoor lighting, the choice fell upon some of the best street and urban LED solutions currently available on the market. The roads around the new hospital have 90 Clima LED fixtures. Clima is an anti-pollution lighting fixture equipped with latest generation LED modules and 130×70° elliptical lenses. The total output of the fixtures is next to 100% and is designed to ensure a LED life of 60,000 hours (L70B20). Moreover, the street installation chosen for the entrance area includes 18 Ministelvio by Disano with wide light beam, ensuring the best LED performance with an excellent impact on aesthetics. All Disano fixtures are designed to fit the new light and control systems that increase energy savings and ensure longer lamp life.

MINISTELVIO LED