This new space by Catalan architect Agustí Costa in Berga, a hundred kilometers far from Barcelona, is dedicated to the practice of homeopathic therapies by professionals who reinvent the health sector by orienting it towards a more social, natural and holistic principles, close to those of the Slow Philosophy.
Located in East Tennessee, Contemporary Women’s Health is a unique all-women physicians group dedicated to providing OBGYN services which incorporate the latest medical trends set in a comfortable, ultra-modern environment. The practice is focused on providing patient support for a healthy mind, body, and spirit. In 2013, BarberMcMurry architects was approached by the practice to help design a new facility to embody their mission located approximately 15 miles west of Knoxville in East Tennessee. The client asked that the new building convey their values by creating a coherent building manifested in a modern, calming, light filled environment. Located between two major bisecting interstate highways, the site is situated for maximum visibility from passing traffic. The location is also strategically placed near a regional medical center that the practice serves. Adjacent parcels to the south remain dotted with single story residential houses, while lots immediately to the north and east remain mainly vegetated.
Ali Mohammed T. Al-Ghanim Clinic building by AGi architects stands as a pioneer in the healthcare sector, where challenging issues such as privacy and security are addressed using a new model, where courtyards attached to the façade are the driving element behind this unique typology.
The MUHC (McGill University Health Centre) is one of the world’s foremost academic health centres. The new hospital, opening in April 2015 at the Glen site, is the redevelopment project that will create leading-edge facilities in three sites.
In the centre of the Westphalian town of Heiden, Thesing & Thesing Architekten have paid homage to history in their creation of a new community space adjacent to the town’s historical church square. Bricks were chosen as the exclusive material for the roof and façade of the new health centre and the pavement of the square itself, an expression of the holistic approach employed by the architects. The bricks of the Hagemeisters’s “Heiden” variety, produced especially for the project, vary in colour from a deep reddish-brown to a violet-red with blue anthracite smoke marks and contribute a sense of lasting permanence. Until the 1970s, a neo-gothic church dominated the centre of the community. In the contours of the new medical building, the architects recall the proportions of both the original church’s architecture and that of even older urban structures taken from the town’s original land registers.
Rural healthcare in China currently faces a multitude of challenges. Rural institutions are generally unfavourable compared to those in urban locales. Government subsidies and the raising of doctor and hospital incomes also lead to overcharging and needless treatments and exams. Commissioned by a Hong Kong charity, Institute for Integrated Rural Development, this project involves designing China’s first charitable hospital whilst helping foster a new attitude toward rural healthcare.
COMMISSIONING DONOR: Institute of integrated Rural Development
ADDITIONAL DONORS: Luke Him Sau Charitable Trust
Design: Joshua Bolchover and John Lin, Rural Urban Framework is a not-for-profit design agency based at the Faculty of Architecture, The University of Hong Kong. (more…)
Dutch design practice zone zuid architecten has recently seen their concept for an osteopathic practice in Roosendaal come to life. The 225 sq m Osteopatie Praktijk Roosendaal was opened in March 2014 and transforms a former industrial site on the outskirts of the town into a striking healthcare centre.
Investment divided into three phases, including (1) construction of the new Regional Blood Center building, (2) shelter for the mobile blood center [bus] and (3) the first in Poland specialized Center for Blood Cancer Diagnostics to be located within the existing building. At the moment, the first phase has been completed.
San Francisco’s historic Central YMCA (1909), a nine-story Classical building located in the city’s Tenderloin neighborhood, has been transformed into supportive housing for the homeless and a health center for residents of supportive housing and the homeless. The adaptive use project created 174 micro-units of permanent housing and preserved the original sky-lit second-floor lobby, auditorium, full-size gymnasium, offices, and meeting rooms.
The LEED Gold health center occupies 11,700 square feet of a former locker room and support space on the ground floor, and the original swimming pool in the basement has been converted to a multipurpose room. Renovations in the 1950s removed the grand entry staircase, which led directly from the street to the second-floor lobby. This lobby has now been restored as the heart of the building, including a new grand stair, a small street-level lobby, accessible elevator, and improved circulation throughout the upper floors. Residential wings and 24 new units constructed above the historic gym wrap the light well above the lobby.
The small residential units—the Y’s former hotel rooms, approximately 200 square feet each—preserve the original window bays and gain spaciousness from their generous proportions and high ceilings. All units provide ample storage, cooking facilities, and individual bathrooms. A new radiant heating system, energy efficient lighting and ventilation, and the use of healthy materials support sustainability and resident well-being. Terrazzo stairs, tile walls, wood ceilings, and translucent planters around the new grand stair were chosen for their compatibility with the historic wood, tile, and marble finishes, which were meticulously preserved. The building includes 1,450 square feet of corner retail space on the street level.
On the outskirts of Seville abound open residential blocks. These are called polygons, where H-blocks and interstitial spaces without identity proliferate. In the 60s and 70s, with the pressing need for housing for the new population coming in from the countryside, the creation of recognizable urban spaces between the blocks was not on the agenda of the designers. The blocks were repeated indifferently, sometimes parallel, sometimes terraced, sometimes diagonal, neglecting the intermediate void.
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