Scandinavia’s largest diabetes hospital, Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen (SDCC), has been inaugurated and is now ready to support world-class treatment and research. The new facilities redefine how we perceive healthcare architecture, where building and landscape exist in a symbiosis that invites health and wellbeing within safe and sensory surroundings.

This past Wednesday, the Capital Region of Denmark inaugurated completely new premises for the treatment and prevention of diabetes with the opening of SDCC. The new 24,000 m² hospital is designed to accommodate 11,000 children and adults annually and will serve as a centre for research, education, knowledge, and treatment in the field of diabetes. The hospital’s core focus is to create a transparent experience for patients and relatives, offering a different, greener, and more human-centred experience during diabetes care.

When Architecture Supports Health

User involvement has been a continuous thread throughout the development of SDCC. Particular attention has been given to ensuring a high-quality experience in arrival, waiting, and communal areas, based on the aim of converting waiting time into active time. The building is thus designed to support a natural flow around the themes of nutrition, exercise, and new knowledge—within a warm, Nordic atmosphere, featuring timber floors and wooden slatted ceilings.

The building and landscape at Steno Diabetes Center Copenhagen are closely interwoven, creating a seamless connection between indoors and outdoors. This relationship helps make the landscape omnipresent and supports the fundamental vision of architecture that places human wellbeing and health at its core. SDCC is organised around four green courtyards and a publicly accessible rooftop garden, ensuring that natural elements are ever-present. These outdoor spaces introduce daylight into the building’s interior, offering views of the sky and first floor.

A Leader in Research and Education

SDCC is intended to serve as a leading centre for research and education in diabetes, and for the development of new treatments—both nationally and internationally.

“Denmark is known for its world-class diabetes care, but now we’re raising the bar even further. We aim to help halt the rise in type 2 diabetes, contribute to finding a cure for type 1 diabetes, make life with diabetes easier for individuals, and increase life expectancy. These are four of the very ambitious goals we have for SDCC,” says Allan Flyvbjerg, CEO of SDCC.

The new SDCC was designed by Vilhelm Lauritzen Architects and Mikkelsen Architects, with STED By- og Landskab as landscape architects and COWI as the project’s lead consultant.