The work is performed on a Noucentista building by architect Joan Rubió i Bellver from 1921, which looks like a Catalan farmhouse and is of great architectural interest. It is located at the western end of the Parque Hospitalario Martí y Juliá Hospital Complex covering an area of over 100,000m2. The building was designed with a ground-floor porch, with vaults over tiled pillars and large windows on the southern façade. The building’s layout is symmetrical in a central volume and two side wings. The ground and second floor volume rise in the central part of the building, with a gabled tiled roof. An extension was made in the eastern area, which is where the new main entrance is suggested, with views of the main building with all of the more public and administrative part of the centre.
Adaptation to the environment // This involves the interior alteration of a building within the Special Plan for architectural heritage protection. Work on the façade is minimal to preserve the image of the Hospital Complex.
Organisation and layout // There is a reception and administration area in the eastern zone with access to the meeting room or the toilet. To the north, a corridor leads to the management offices, which have a shared meeting room. Each laboratory has research areas and space for administrative work. In the northern part of these laboratories there are support rooms (PCR room, cold-storage chamber, multi-purpose rooms, microscopy room and freezer rooms. The part furthest away is the laboratory kitchen, where the waste room is accessed. The first floor is distributed along a central corridor running east-west. To the south is the vertical circulation core. In the southern area there will be an open-plan work area that opens up to the southern patio. There is an intermediate area in the northern part, with two patios and two offices that open up onto them. The central area leads to an open-plan work area that opens up to the northern patio. There is an office in the north-eastern end with a work space for CEIC. The technical gallery with the necessary installations is to be located at the east and west ends. The floor also houses the general archive. On the southern part of the second floor will be a work area, and in the northern part three offices, with the attic being used as the technical gallery.
Sustainability criteria // All carpentry has been replaced with new carpentry with greater insulation capacities to save energy. The large windows allow for the entry of natural light, creating extremely bright spaces.
Singularity and character // The architectural relationship between the skin of the Noucentista building and the current alteration make it a very characteristic, unique building.
