Near the entrance to the ‘Uithof’ – the campus of Utrecht – rises the Ronald McDonald House, a pavilion that provides accommodations for the families of children confined to the university’s pediatric hospital. Four rectangular concrete trays, each corresponding to a floor slab, serve to separate the colorful organic volumes that contain different groups of rooms on every floor. This is a departure from the mechanistic aesthetic of neighboring buildings, with a humorous gesture alluding to the hamburgers commercialized by the sponsor company. The rooms of the two upper floors as well as the kitchen, the lounge and the lobby reception are clad inside with wood and warmtoned materials, in an attempt to evoke a domestic environment that would help visitors forget the aseptic and impersonal atmosphere of the hospital...
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