Comprehensive Transplant Center, Cluj Napoca, RO

2020 Open Competition
In collaboration with Tudor Vlăsceanu, JB Arhitectura, Exhibit Arhitectura, Petrencu Nicolae
Healthcare consultant: Angheloiu Bogdan
Images: www.tegmark.net, Răzvan Andrei




The Comprehensive Transplant Center is envisioned as a transformative intervention in the  historic hospital fabric, completing the hospital ensemble bounded by Clinicilor, V. Babeș, Bogdan Petriceicu, and Piezișă streets. At its core lies Mikó Garden—a central green space that serves as both the heart of the ensemble and a vital connector between the existing facilities, the new transplant center, and the wider city.

At the urban scale, the design enhances pedestrian connections, removes illegal parking within  the existing ensemble grounds, and restores a continuous green network defined by medium-sized trees, landscaped alleys, and well-scaled outdoor areas. Mikó Garden is reimagined as a  calm and accessible urban oasis, connected to its surroundings through a network of restored  and newly built stairways and elevators, ensuring universal accessibility.

The proposed building is carefully positioned to define three distinct exterior spaces: an access  square along V. Babeș Street that serves as the public gateway; a north-west courtyard, semi-public in character, linked to the main lobby and enabling diagonal pedestrian movement across  the site; and a northern square that continues the pedestrian axis towards the lower terraces of  the hospital ensemble. Accessible roof tops above both the cylindrical and west wings offer  additional open-air areas for patients and staff, providing quiet spaces for rest, fresh air, and  informal interaction within the hospital setting.

Architecturally, the project seeks to be more than a medical facility. It is conceived as a civic  institution embedded within a revitalized hospital landscape, weaving together history, nature, and cutting-edge healthcare. The volume is simple and ordered, responding sensitively to its  varied surroundings. A cylindrical section facing V. Babes Street houses administration,  research, and public areas, presenting a symbolic yet understated façade to the city. An L- shaped wing accommodates clinical flows, ensuring efficient circulation, while the lower west  section creates a gentle transition towards the semi-private grounds of St. Pantelimon Church.

The façade grid reinforces the Cartesian organization of the volume and echoes the rhythm of  the surrounding clinic buildings. Brick cladding and brass-plated panels anchor the building in  local material traditions while maintaining a human scale. Modular, prefabricated façade  elements ensure precision, speed of assembly, and construction quality. Inside, the layout  clearly distinguishes between clean, sterile, and public flows, allowing patients, staff, logistics,  and emergency services to move efficiently without interference. The main lobby, accessed  directly from V. Babeș Street, serves as the central distribution point, from which vertical and  horizontal connections extend to all parts of the building.