The new Charité

Charité started off as a plague house outside the gates of Berlin before becoming a hospital treating the city’s residents. Now it is one of the world’s leading university hospitals in the heart of the German capital. There is no doubt that in its over 300 years of medical history, Charité – like the city itself – has undergone constant transformation.

New visions of the future have been articulated for the three campuses with their own wards as the university hospital faces the challenges yet to come with confidence and resilience.

This requires a master plan for each campus which integrates architectural, functional and landscape planning in an exemplary manner while also respecting ecological considerations. Its forward-thinking architectural approaches are designed to reflect Charité's global status as a leading institution for research and medicine while also constructively incorporating its built heritage into the strategic planning. When developing these master plans, Charité conducted a multi-stage competitive dialogue process for each campus in conjunction with the Senate Department for Urban Development, Building and Housing, the Senate Department for Science, Health and Care, the Berlin Heritage Authority, the local council for each district as well as external consultants. The approaches proposed by the participating interdisciplinary teams (for urban planning, architecture and landscaping) were discussed and various aspects were deliberated by the teams in conjunction with external consultants and administrative bodies. This transparent process ensured that all the different interests (Berlin's Senate, local districts, financing and Charité itself) in this future-proof urban development were properly considered. In the next step, the winning designs for each part of the process will be refined by the planning teams and Charité in close cooperation with Berlin’s districts and its Senate.