The preliminary project for the Sarmiento Clinic is located on “Malvinas Argentinas” Avenue, which is the access to Río Segundo town coming from the “Córdoba – Rosario” highway.
Studio Name: Santiago Viale y Asociados
Design Team:
- Florencia Esteban,
- María Vocos,
- Julieta Astorica,
- Rocío Piñeiro
Area: 2985m²
Year: 2016
Location: Río Segundo, Córdoba, Argentina
Consultants: –
Render Credits: Estudio NOD
Animation Credits: 3D CORDOBA
Due to its location, the sector not only benefits from not having building constraints, but also becomes an ideal space for this type of institution, due to the ease of access both from the highway and from the city, thus solving one of the key points of a building of these characteristics where the ease and speed of vehicular access are of vital importance.
The site has an area of approximately one hectare and is located on a corner; In it, a single-story building was proposed, maintaining reasonable internal distances, this approach being the optimal for a health institution.
Inside the building a double circulation was projected, a public one towards the route and a technical one towards the back of the site. The first one has as a point of interest the main entrance to the clinic emphasized by a large eave that in turn acts as an icon of the building, and serves as protection for the ascent and descent of the public. Another point of interest of the public circulation corresponds to the secondary or emergency entrance conformed by a smaller eave, which serves as protection for the access of ambulances to this sector of the building. Moreover, in this second there is parking space for staff and space for supplying the clinic.
The project is based on a double crossed comb circulation scheme for the layout of the plan, where a circulatory comb corresponds to technical circulation and another circulatory comb corresponds to public circulation. It is from this scheme that the different subsystems of the functional program are formed: ambulatory medicine, hospitalization, intensive care unit (ICU), diagnostic imaging and the Emergency Department, which includes both medical guard and operating rooms. All of these are arranged in separate pavilions with intermediate yards between them, which allow adequate natural lighting and ventilation to almost all the rooms of the building.
Towards the back of the building there is a single pavilion that links the others; its rooms are at the service of the main subsystems mentioned ensuring their good performance. This pavilion is intended for those activities and common uses such as sterilization service, laundry, medical gases, changing rooms for staff, etc.
In terms of space, the public sector was conceived as a double-height space, encompassing the reception area and the waiting rooms, thus giving the spaces an institutional character and also generating in the patient a sense of security and confidence towards the medical institution. As a result, the facade of the building conveys an appropriate scale for the perception from the route, adapting to the speed and distance of the observer that is travelling. The rest of the areas of the building have conventional heights for hospitals, which allow horizontal technical spaces above the ceiling throughout the entire floor.
As to the technology with which the building was resolved, it was proposed an independent structure of reinforced concrete, with ribbed slabs, isolated columns and horizontally disposed beams, foreseen the need of no interference with hanging beams throughout the horizontal technical space over the ceiling already mentioned. Besides, the fact of proposing an independent structure fulfils the need of facilitating the modifications that may be necessary in the future so as to respond to the new procedures, equipment and functionalities that the medical field requires.
The exterior envelope of the entire proposal was resolved with concrete blocks, while for the interior layer a thermal insulation with glass wool and a simple plasterboard plate was proposed, with which an adequate thermal transmittance coefficient is achieved for the building and its requirements.
The main facade was conceived as a colonnade, with vertical sunshades made of concrete blocks which protect public spaces from direct solar radiation at certain times of the year. For the outgoing volumes corresponding to both the main entrance and the secondary entrance, it was proposed a screening of concrete blocks, arranged horizontally, in order to achieve a protection plate that in turn allows a sifted view of the environment.
Finally, green spaces were incorporated into the main facade in the recesses of the glazed plane, in order to incorporate nature into the building, promoting interaction between nature and the patient.
