Day Centre for the Elderly

Barcelona / Spain / 2008

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The project’s main aim is to create a pleasant building for senior citizens, a space where they feel comfortable and one they can identify with. The construction materials and finishes used are therefore familiar, warm and comfortable, such as ceramic and wood, to create a homely, relaxed atmosphere.


The building’s floor plan keeps closely to the space available in one of the borders of the Príncep de Girona Gardens. The building is designed to respond to the park: a volume that partakes in its language, materials and function. It is conceived as a pavilion in the park, a vantage point from which users can survey everything going on around them, both in the park and in the street.


The ground floor is permeable, with a hallway that runs right through the building. The building itself represents a new entrance from the street, leading into the park. One of the park’s esplanades, currently paved in wood, will have a new entrance via the building.


The tiled roof slopes down the smaller façades to the ground, creating the impression of a great doorway.


The larger façades, with great picture windows and timber framework, pick up the motif of the park’s wooden paving and street furniture.


Exterior cladding


The ceramic was imposed as a solution able to clad in a unified way two surfaces with different functions: the large roof of the building and the side walls, giving the volume the image of a large portal.


In some way we liked to think that the materials to "dress" the building are materials that, as its users, know aging, get better as time goes on. At the same time the intention was to provide the building with textures and materials known and appreciated by older people.


The cladding was made with handmade ceramic tiles, in sizes 30x10x2cm and 30x10x4cm for the roof, and special anti-vandalistic thicker ones of 30x15x4cm to coat the side walls.
For the facade, we used pine wood slats with colorless autoclave treatment.


Sustainability criteria


Thick sunscreens were set in the southwest direction, while in the northeast direction other more diaphanous. All building materials are biodegradable and / or recyclable, and non-aggressive construction and deconstruction systems were chosen. In addition, energy saving systems were planned focused on the orientation of the facades, cross ventilation and an efficient insulation system.

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    The project’s main aim is to create a pleasant building for senior citizens, a space where they feel comfortable and one they can identify with. The construction materials and finishes used are therefore familiar, warm and comfortable, such as ceramic and wood, to create a homely, relaxed atmosphere. The building’s floor plan keeps closely to the space available in one of the borders of the Príncep de Girona Gardens. The building is designed to respond to the park: a volume...

    Project details
    • Year 2008
    • Work started in 2006
    • Work finished in 2008
    • Client Barcelona City Council
    • Contractor AND SA
    • Status Completed works
    • Type Parks, Public Gardens / Day-care centres
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