Versatile use through modular construction – Completion of the floating building at Klinikum Hochrhein in Waldshut

Key handover at Klinikum Hochrhein in Waldshut; from left to right: Hans-Jürgen Ott, Medical Director and Chief Physician of Anesthesiology, Intensive Care, and Emergency Medicine at Klinikum Hochrhein; Niklas Nüssle, District Chairman of the Waldshut District Association Bündnis 90/Die Grünen; Rita Schwarzelühr-Sutter, Parliamentary State Secretary at the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Safety; Karsten Kußmann, Managing Director of Cadolto Modulbau GmbH; Dr. med. Hans-Peter Schlaudt, Managing Director of Klinikum Hochrhein GmbH; Dr. Martin Kistler, District Administrator of Waldshut County; Felix Schreiner, Member of the German Bundestag; Harald Würtenberger, Supervisory Board Member. (© Klinikum Hochrhein GmbH)

Much new space for patient care – the Hochrhein Clinic in Waldshut is expanding its capacities with a new modular building. The Franconian modular construction specialist Cadolto was commissioned for project planning and subsequent on-site implementation. On September 21, 2021, the turnkey handover to the client took place.

The four-story modular building consists of a total of 57 modules and covers a gross floor area of 2,618 m². Two connecting bridges, also made up of individual modules, connect the new building to the existing hospital building. On the first upper floor, capacities for four single rooms and five double rooms for intensive care were created. The second and third upper floors each house 12 double rooms in patient wards. The technical center is located on the fourth upper floor.

Dr. med. Hans-Peter Schlaudt, Managing Director of Klinikum Hochrhein GmbH: “With the completion of the building, we have achieved another milestone in creating new capacities for patient accommodation at our clinic. Thanks to modular construction, we have quickly created new possibilities for optimal patient care – while maintaining everyday hospital operations. Especially the short construction time on-site and the assembly of the building within a few days and during nighttime hours significantly contributed to minimizing disruptions to hospital operations during the construction phase. We are very pleased to look back on a successful collaboration with Cadolto throughout the entire project.”

Allowing a building to “hover” above the ground means that the building concept must include a suitable support structure. This is the special feature of the project at Klinikum Hochrhein: Through this approach, the new building not only provides capacities in patient wards and intensive care but also creates additional parking spaces underneath the building.

Karsten Küßmann, Managing Director of Cadolto Modulbau GmbH: “The great efficiency and high speed that modular construction can achieve for new buildings in healthcare are especially suitable for system-relevant facilities such as hospitals and clinics. Prefabrication in the factory allows for a significant reduction in on-site construction time and reduces noise and emissions on the hospital grounds considerably, benefiting patients and
clinic staff.”

Modular construction is the future within the construction industry, as it offers cost-effective and high-quality solutions for builders through standardized modular forms, while also satisfying the demand for flexible structures and designs in line with architectural freedom. Complex challenges in planning and implementation are managed just as well as the execution of technically demanding building features. Prefabrication in the factory ensures continuous quality control and provides builders and architects with high planning security – Cadolto leads the industry in this area with the highest degree of prefabrication, up to 90 percent.