The Sant Joan Despí Doctor Moisès Broggi Hospital is a newly built hospital designed to serve a population of 300,000 inhabitants in the Catalan region of Baix Llobregat, in Spain.
The organisation and layout of the Hospital within the plot is determined by the accesses to it, the orientations, and the topographical conditions of the land.
The adaptation to the site, and to its conditions of access and environment, explain the solution adopted. Indeed, the land has a long boundary oriented to the north where Baix Llobregat Avenue is located. The main access is located at the south-west end of the plot, at the highest level, from where you can also access the ambulatory area. However, the main access to the consultations is independent and is located on the north façade, on Baix Llobregat Avenue, from which it can be accessed more easily by public transport.
Also, with the idea of differentiating access according to functionality, the emergency access is located at the north-west end of the plot. This access is at the lowest level, one floor below the main access. Finally, access to the loading and unloading dock is on the east side.
Architecturally, a compact building has been chosen, looking to solve the following concepts technically and functionally:
1. Specialisation of circulations
The separate sanitary and public circulations are designed to avoid interference between one and the other. Hence the solution of placing all the healthcare areas in the basement -1, to avoid the appearance of beds on the access floor. The proposal for independent access to external consultations and the rest of outpatient services enables access to external visits or inpatients from two different accesses.
The compositional clarity of the routes and the continuous relationship between the building's exterior and interior make it easier for the user to find their way around the hospital.
2. Hospitalisation units
All the rooms of the inpatient units have been oriented to the south and to the new park, overlooking a quiet and wooded area, protecting these facades through a brise-soleil of red cedar wood boards from Canada.
No hospitalisation unit is isolated from the others to enable the interrelationship of health personnel: hence the solution of four units on the first floor, three on the second and three on the third.
3. Area of external inquiries
It differs from the hospital area itself in order to improve its functionality. Deeper recesses have been built to adapt to the different hourly operation and natural light has been enhanced through zenithal lighting, without the need for patios, thus achieving a compact building and reducing operating costs.
4. Built volume
A balance has been sought between the desire to achieve an extensive building and the desire to preserve an important space as a garden area, while at the same time minimising the internal routes to make the operation of the hospital more rational. This compaction of the building and the fact that much of the construction is located below ground level, has been accompanied by the location of a series of patios that allow lighting of most of the building's spaces, looking for a discreet urban footprint despite the large built volume.
5. Sustainability
The building normalises the concept of Sustainability as it is incorporated from the initial design, seeking to create a building capable of great energy savings. This is achieved both by the architectural design (building closed to the north and open to the south, controls of the external sun through the brise-soleils, and design of the façades) and by the installation of technical mechanisms such as photovoltaic panels and rainwater reuse systems.
