Before designing the new Ellsinore Psychiatric Hospital, BIG dove into the programmatic requirements and needs of the client, as well as the daily users of the clinic, its staff, patients and relatives. The input from these different groups pointed to several conflicting requirements and ambiguities. To meet these needs and the requirements of modern psychiatric treatment, BIG set out to redefine the traditional hospital typology.
After over a year of close collaboration, the first passengers trialed this new form of transportation at Virgin Hyperloop’s m DevLoop test site in Las Vegas, where the company has previously run over tests in un-occupied pods. The demonstration was overseen by the industry-recognized Independent Safety Assessor (ISA) Certifier, and its success marks a historic moment in transportation as Pegasus becomes the first manned and fully functional system for Hyperloop travel.
The barriers between human and artificial intelligence will also be removed. Newly created spaces including AI exhibition spaces, markets and cafés will invite the public to join under the roof. Under the same roof, professionals and robotics working in the most innovative companies of the country will develop future technologies. The traffic strategy focuses on a flexible transition towards a future re-balance of nature with development. Throughout Terminus Future City, e-bikes, robotic vehicles and self-driving cars will define a new, smart mobility system.
BIGs design combines four universal archetypes across space and time into a new national symbol: the circle, the rotunda, the arch and the yurt are merged into the form of a Moebius strip. The clarity of the circle, the courtyard of the rotunda, the gateway of the arch and the soft silhouette of the yurt are combined to create a new national monument appearing local and universal, contemporary and timeless, unique and archetypal at the same time.
Since the infrastructure is the most important element, the rest of the program is integrated with it as much as possible. In order to create a physical interface, the elevated vacuum tube wraps around itself and descends as a gentle ramp, ending in an airlock that allows for save entry and exits for pods. While the pill shaped loop of the tube forms the exterior façade of the facility, the support structure gets extended towards the interior as a sequence of concrete frames with fileted corners for lateral support.