In many respects, the Agatharied hospital is so advanced in its concept that one can call it a building designed for the future. Many of the people with whom we, as architects, have collaborated and learned from over the years, are now coming to see what use we have made of our knowledge at Agatharied. From the expressions of surprise heard from several competent specialists, one can see that this project represents a great step forward. 

The building is, in every respect, an architectural model. A site was made available in a landscape of outstanding natural beauty in the foothills of the Bavarian Alps.

The large patient volume of 400 beds for somatic treatment and 108 beds for psychiatric patients is sorted into a number of smaller elements: a therapy tract, four pavilions with patients’ bedrooms, and the psychiatric department which adopts and varies formal elements of the pavilions. This extensive construction program is laid out like a small town. Part of the volume accommodating mechanical services that do not require natural daylight was cut into the slope of the site. 

The approach to the hospital from the north leads to the main circulation area - a two-storey hall that extends over the length of the building. From here, access is provided to the examination and therapy areas and to the bedroom units and the psychiatric department. The distinction between the hospital as an “instrument” for examination and treatment and as a place of recovery in a hotel-like atmosphere is consistently pursued in the choice of materials. The façades of the main tract are in aluminium; those to the bedroom pavilions and the psychiatric department are in timber.

1992 - 1998 Fassade development and technical concept at Nickl Architects