AWARDS:
-2013 Competition for designing the Centro Granadino del Alzhéimer in Armilla, Granada. First prize
SITUATION: C/ Barcelona, Armilla (Granada). >>Open in GOOGLE MAPS
DATES: competition (2013), project (2013-2014)
CLIENT: Diputación Provincial de Granada
ARCHITECTS: José Antonio Carbajal Navarro, Nicolás Carbajal Ballell and Rodrigo Carbajal Ballell
BUILDING SURVEYORS: Jesús Bozzo Fernández de Tirso
STRUCTURAL ENGINEER: Edartec Consultores SL
SERVICES ENGINEER: Jaime Navarro Casas and Antonio Navarro Osta (ACUILU SL)
The Alzheimer’s disease Grenadian Center is a notable complex that comprises not only a Training Center and Diagnosis Area but a Day Care Center, a Residential area and Management area. The project is located in Armilla, beside a park between Barcelona street and Paseo Delicias. The site is inside a big-flat block with north-south orientation. Therefore the pedestrian path that crosses in the north side of the site adquires great importance because it allows crossing the block, going into the park or, as we suggest, accessing the building.
The building is developed in three floors above the ground level and a basement floor. The ground floor includes the areas that are more in contact with visitors or outside users. The upper floors, far away from the higher activity of the lower one, contains the rooms and services of the Residential area.
A central corridor crosses the complex from east to west, and separates -in the ground floor- the Day Care Center from Training Center and Diagnosis Area. Those areas are autonomous units, each one with its own access, but should be in contact. Both units are organised around patios to increase the privacy of work areas and living spaces. Moreover we have tried to ensure these spaces are in relation with gardens and water as grenadian architecture has taught.
Looking for rest and some degree of privacy, the Residential area is in first and second floors. Rooms are grouped together in five living units. This strategy allow the specialization of treatments and the subdivision of each floor according to occupancy rate. Every unit has its own services -dining room, living room, control, geriatric bathroom, treatment room and cleaning room- so each one can operate autonomously. Each residential unit is built around a patio as a big house in order to reach a comfortable, well-lit and familiar atmosphere.
In the rooftop terrace, three multipurpose rooms benefits from the great views over the park and the mountains around Granada. A big canopy covers thouse rooms and two well-isolated machinery rooms, as well as supports solar panels and solar collectors.
The basement floor is mainly used for parking, but also houses services and storage rooms as laundry, archive rooms, staff locker rooms or kitchen. The staff could arrive, go through the locker room and reach their workplace. As in the other floors, the central corridor allows an easy connection between the different areas and circulation cores.
In conclussion, our effort has been intended to create comfortable spaces for users, spaces where they can feel at home. In addition we have tried to design a flexible building that can easily adapt to different requirements and degrees of occupancy.
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