Medical Center Arona-Vilaflor | gpy arquitectos

The medical centre designed by gpy architects stands at the outskirts of the Canary Island town of Arona. It forms a threshold between town and countryside, between mountains and valley, and the building’s two very different sides are in response to climate, access and function. The building’s well-designed floor plan and façades mediate between these contrasts. On the north
side, the road level lies about one storey higher than on the south side. Entrance to the middle of the three storeys, where thereare public areas and examination rooms, is located here. This shaded entrance side opens up to the public thanks to an expansive glass frontage. In contrast, the south side faces the open countryside and its task is to offer a vista, shade and make
an impact when viewed from the distance. The south façade can be changedfrom closed and monolithic to partially open by means of moveable window shutters according to weather conditions. Access to the lower ground floor, the approach road and garages for ambulances are located on the south side. The scale of the north side relates to the village of Arona, but on the east side, where the main road leads towards Arona, the architects have set an upper floor on top. This acts as a relaxation level for the employees, and the windows are obliquely recessed into the walls to give a measure of privacy from the exterior. The accentuated base, which
balances out the topography of the slopes and provides a horizontal line for the façade
construction, is typical in Arona. The architects have adopted this horizontality in the sloping terrain but use a grid of large format ALUCOBOND® tray panels all over the building and adapt all other different openings and graduated elements to suit it. The architecture is a unity and harmonises with the colours and scale of the village.

Project: Medical Center Arona-Vilaflor, Tenerife | Spain
Architects: gpy architects, Santa Cruz de Tenerife | Spain
Construction: Cassette SZ20
Year of Construction: 2001
Product: ALUCOBOND® solid colours White