An unfinished building from 1884 that was supposed to be the Hospital of Sant Sadurní d'Anoia has been converted into a School of Mural Painting and School of Arts and Crafts.
The nave of the chapel, the central core of the old project, was very suitable for its use as a practical workshop for the muralists. The annex building of very little architectural interest, in poor condition and with many alterations due to its successive uses, could house the classrooms and services of the two centres, which is why they proceeded to demolish and replace all the interior forgings.
The new work appears on the outside as the irruption of the current windows that interfere, in its air, with the old order, scratched by a previous work of solidifying the whole that highlights the compactness of the original factory. This feature is possibly the main quality of the existing one.
With the new cover of the nave of the chapel, which seeks the correct lighting of its interior, the contrast between the two unusual volumes that make up the whole was accentuated.
The additions of white marble aim to accentuate the involuntary tone of unfinished work that the irregular stone ensemble already has and turn it into a statement.
With the layout of the two sections of stairs, one through the rear courtyard and the other pointing to the chapel, each of them is given an itinerary of a certain visual interest.
The Index building is located in the grounds of the old Sant Sadurní d'Anoia hospital and is part of this complex. It can be accessed via Pompeu Fabra Street, which preserves the fence wall and leads to an interior courtyard. The Index is the result of the rehabilitation in 1987 of the chapel and the annex building attached to the north façade.
The chapel is a rectangular nave with a polygonal chancel. The chapel is covered by a gable roof raised on the north side.
The attached building is rectangular in plan and has a flat roof. It consists of a plinth that saves the unevenness of the land, ground floor and two floors.
The facing of the two buildings has a common wall and the use of bricks is the only decorative element, as is the case with the openings and blind arches, tax lines, corners, buttresses of the chapel, etc. The use of brick also highlights the different levels. Most of the original windows are boarded up, which accentuates the massive character of the building.
What remains of the old hospital is located on Torres i Bages Street and was built in 1884 by Ubald Iranzo from the donation of a piece of land by Josep Ferrer Sallés to be used for poor patients. In the original project, the hospital was made up of two parallel and symmetrical quadrangular buildings with three levels of height attached to the north and south façades of a chapel that served as a connecting link. The main façade of the chapel was set back with respect to the front façades of these two bodies that had the function of a hospital. The hospital, however, was not finished. In the annexed body, the Carmelite sisters were installed, and the building was used for primary education and social and health care. It was later allocated to social housing. The chapel, in turn, was used as a warehouse. Finally, in 1928, it was replaced by a new hospital located a few metres from it.
In the 1980s, the City Council promoted services that required the construction and renovation of old buildings to adapt them to new uses. To carry it out, it had the help of the Provincial Council. The new project respected the volumes of the chapel and the annex building but completely refurbished the interior to adapt it to the new uses. Work was done with current materials in order to modernise its appearance on the exterior access, the roof and the walling of the openings. In the attached body, irregular bodies and openings added over time were removed and new windows were opened.
The chapel space was used as a mural painting school to take advantage of its height, while the arts and crafts school was located in the annex building that had been a municipal warehouse. Currently, it is a municipal facility where the Youth Office, the Youth Information Point, the Youth Service and Sant Sadurní Radio are located.