CHU Tivoli

Project: CHU Tivoli
Architect: ArtBuild Architects

Programme

Extension and modernization of the La Louvière University Hospital Center.

New-build program – Phase 1:
This phase includes the development of adult and pediatric emergency departments, a 14-theatre operating suite, and 210 conventional inpatient beds.
It also comprises a medical-technical platform including:
a laboratory, a sterilization unit, a pathology department, and a logistics platform.

Refurbishment program – Phases 2, 3 and 4:
12 inpatient units, an imaging department, a day surgery unit, an endoscopy platform, a 30-place day hospital, a nuclear medicine unit, and an obstetrics department.

Phase 4:
A new main entrance hall, a general consultation platform, redevelopment of the entrance forecourt, and façade refurbishment.

About

Inaugurated in 1976, the aging and increasingly cramped University Hospital Center Tivoli needed to be adapted to the techniques and practices of a modern hospital. The mission to develop a master plan for the restructuring of the University Hospital Center is structured around several components:

The renovation of the historic tripod building through phased operations carried out on an occupied site;
Its extension with a new wing known as the “Cœur du Hainaut,” housing inpatient units, operating theatres, and laboratories;
The gradual transformation of the site into a 21st-century university hospital campus aligned with the needs of the Centre region.

The extension of the existing tripod-shaped building is the cornerstone of the new urban project. Positioned prominently at the forefront of the Buset site, it is intended to embody the hospital’s ambitions in terms of medical organization and the services provided.

The building’s layout opens toward the city. Its angled position in relation to the tripod creates a generous forecourt, forming a new entrance that expresses values of welcome and patient care. The new inpatient wings rest on a base conceived as a protective plinth, anchoring the building to the site and housing the hospital’s technical platform - its technological core.

The master plan aims to develop a coherent short- and medium-term vision from an urban, architectural, and functional perspective, while giving the Hospital Center a new identity within the urban landscape of La Louvière.
The future campus, which will bring together several hospital entities from the so-called “Centre” region, will develop along a longitudinal axis structured by a major pedestrian promenade serving as its backbone.

Drawing on the concept of “architecture in negative space,” the landscape design supports the humanistic values underpinning the identity of the new hospital.
Finally, the renovation of the historic tripod also includes upgrading the façades to meet current energy performance requirements.

Combined with the restructuring of the base and the main entrance - transforming it into a vibrant place for everyday life, retail, and social interaction, much like a village square - these interventions will give the hospital a renewed image and new uses, in keeping with its time.