The Klinikum am Bruderwald is one of three locations of the Bamberg Social Foundation in Bamberg. The social foundation invests substantial sums each year to keep the clinics state-of-the-art. Great importance is also attached to the design of the outdoor facilities to ensure patients have the most pleasant stay possible. Last summer, the visitor café received a new terrace. The terrace was paved with "Die Rationelle select," a modern and non-slip wood composite material from NATURinFORM.

The Bamberg Social Foundation effectively combines acute healthcare, prevention, outpatient and inpatient rehabilitation, and senior living. The clinics it operates are located at three sites and together form a specialized hospital. The hospital is also an academic teaching hospital of the Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. The clinics are in prime locations in the World Heritage city of Bamberg, and the windows and terraces offer magnificent views of the historic city, extending to the Regnitz Valley and the Franconian Jura Mountains. Surrounded by parkland, the Klinikum am Bruderwald offers the ideal conditions for recovery. The clinics are part of a growing company, whose areas are expanding year after year. In addition to the considerable investments in medical care, the operators attach great importance to the design and maintenance of the park-like grounds surrounding the hospital.

New visitor terrace on 100 square meters

The Eltmann-Limbach-based gardening company Fösel has been working there frequently recently. "In the past two years alone, our teams have been on-site for many months, carrying out a wide variety of projects around the hospital," says Stephan Reuthner, construction manager at Fösel. One of the numerous contracts the company recently received from the social foundation was the completion of a terrace directly adjacent to the hospital's café.

Fösel Garten- und Landschaftsbau GmbH was founded in 1976 by Kurt Fösel. Martin Büttner took over the business in 2009. Around 40 employees, including six apprentices, rely on state-of-the-art machinery in their daily work. "We carry out projects within a radius of up to 100 kilometers from our Eltmann-Limbach location," explains Stephan Reuthner. Our focus is on executing public contracts, designing private gardens, and providing green space maintenance and services. The company is a member of the Bavarian Garden and Landscape Construction Association (Verband Garten- und Landschaftsbau Bayern eV) and registered as a skilled trades business with the Lower Franconia Chamber of Crafts.

Solid decking made of wood composite material

For the new terrace, the clients chose "Die Rationelle select" in titanium gray from the manufacturer NATURinFORM's range. The Fösel team installed a total of 100 square meters of the solid wood composite decking. According to Stephan Reuthner, they have had very positive experiences with this material, and they also benefit from the proximity to the manufacturer, whose headquarters are located in Redwitz ad Rodach in Upper Franconia.

The plank width of approximately 24.4 cm can be produced in lengths of up to 13 m if required. "We have actually installed planks up to 12 meters long there," Reuthner continues. "This allows modern terraces and roof gardens to be created quickly and effectively," he points out, pointing out another advantage of the material.

"The Rationelle select" offers four color options and two different finishes. The corrugated side, which is a deceptively realistic replica of a natural wood surface, was chosen for this version. Available as a solid plank and usable on both sides, it is particularly suitable for large areas.

High sure-footedness

A hospital's visitor terrace is not only used by healthy visitors, but also by patients who often have difficulty walking, use crutches, or are simply weak. A surface with high slip resistance is essential here. "Rationelle select" is particularly well-suited for this purpose: In a 2012 test conducted by TÜV Rheinland/LGA, the decking surfaces achieved slip resistance levels 11 and 13 – according to DIN 51130.

And this was demonstrated once again on the new visitor terrace at the Klinikum am Bruderwald. Throughout last summer, the terrace was a popular meeting place for patients and visitors to the hospital, who gathered there for a chat over coffee and cake—or simply to enjoy the view of nature.