Senior Care Facility + Long-Term Care wing
The volumetric decomposition is rational and objective, in line with the functional purpose of each space, placed naturally within the terrain, ensuring the most effective and adequate exposure of the functions it houses to sunlight. In formal terms, the building is constructed according to some principles identified as consistent with what could be the development of a monastery/convent, without adopting an overly mimetic character and ensuring the consistency of the exceptions, as is the case of the cloister.
Thus, a clean white body rests against the south-west edge, completing the entrance patio, and adopting a size with appropriate proportions. This is where the only contact exists between the “old” and the “new”. It is intended for the building to be seen, objectively, to have “grown”, adopting a silent image, but consistent with the aforementioned principles, both as to the size of the wings, its layout, or the entire volumetric dialogue resulting therefrom. The axis of movement and main distribution is established in the proposed transversal volume, where the contact occurs, and some common areas are also included, and it is from here that the corridors and entrances branch out in a more reserved manner. To the south-west are the two new wings for the Care Facility’s bedrooms, the Long-Term Care wing, as well as the body corresponding to the lounges.
These rest on a green platform, overlooking the patio which is currently used as the main entrance (which shall remain as such), in order to allow a more direct connection between the bedroom wings and the various areas, with the outdoor spaces, in a controlled but pleasing environment. To the north-west is the body which houses the dining halls, projected into the landscape, framing the Nossa Senhora da Graça Hillside and establishing a set of service access areas on the floor below. This volume rests on a foundation comprising a set of common services, such as the changing rooms, warehouses, kitchen or laundry room, which thus operate in optimal conditions, without interfering with the day-to-day life of the users, and it also ensures that they are serviced by the aforementioned service access areas, both by staff and for the loading and offloading of vehicles.
The two functional areas corresponding to the lounges and the dining halls are common to both facilities (although may be used autonomously), and are positioned in the complex in such a way as to clearly indicate the operational independence of the two facilities (Care Facility and Long-Term Care Unit), simultaneously forming an identifiable core, easily accessible by the users of both facilities, as well as by the respective service areas.
The wing for the Long-Term Care Unit is positioned in a more secluded area, with regard to the rest of the complex, completing the volume to be built at the far end of the plot. It has an independent entrance on the far south-west end of the land, thus allowing easy access for vehicles, in order to ensure their operational autonomy. The location of the Unit further gives users the possibility of enjoying an individualised outdoor space.
