The design for the South Pest Central Hospital proposes the integration of several regional and national healthcare institutions into a modern, unified operational system. The large-scale hospital complex would be developed on the site of the existing 19th-century buildings of Saint Stephen Hospital. The design therefore addressed both the creation of a new, technologically advanced healthcare infrastructure and the careful definition of its relationship to the historical layers of the site.

The central idea of the concept is that a hospital is not merely a technological environment for medical treatment, but also a place of physical and psychological recovery. The aim was to create a building that appropriately expresses the institution’s social significance while providing a humane, functional and positive environment for patients, staff and visitors.

The complex is divided into two principal components: an “entrance campus” forming the arrival zone, and the main hospital building accommodating the key diagnostic, treatment and patient-care functions. Rather than functioning as a conventional hospital forecourt, the entrance campus is conceived as a recreational park with trees, lawns, flower beds, outdoor seating areas and a reflecting pool. Even before entering the building, this landscaped arrival space helps ease the tension associated with an institutional environment and creates an atmosphere conducive to healing.

The principles of green architecture shape the organisation of the entire complex. Landscaped courtyards between the building wings, internal atrium gardens, a rooftop rose garden and planted façades all serve to make nature an integral part of the hospital’s everyday operation. At the same time, the development responds respectfully to the historical structure of the site: it incorporates the eclectic entrance building and, through its symmetrical composition, reflects the spatial order of the 19th-century pavilion-based hospital complex.

Clarity and the avoidance of operational congestion were key considerations in the organisation of the functional connections. The careful separation of horizontal and vertical circulation systems, as well as visitor, outpatient, inpatient and staff routes, ensures that despite its substantial capacity, the building can operate in a well-organised, efficient and human-scaled manner.