Medical Clinic
Historical monument protection, medical function, public space, limestone facade
The medical clinic is located in the historical monument protection area of the center of Cluj, on the bank of the Morii Canal, the second most important water course in the city. The small site, located at a crossroad, required occupying with a typology and a volume that paid close attention to the existing historical context. Through the language of contemporary architecture, intrinsic values of the existing historical heritage are evoked: the portico - as an element of hierarchy and transition between the street and the courtyard; a compact volumetry that dynamically follows indoor functions, alternating areas of windowed surfaces with large full ones.
Beyond the site's constraints and a complex functional program that had to adapt to its small size, one of the stakes of the project was the proposal of a semipublic space open to the Morii Canal. It's presence proposes itself as a new approach on how to build relating to this watercourse in the city, compromised in most cases by abusive interventions with parasitic constructions.
The limestone is used both for the walls of the building and for the roof covering, in order to essentialise the typology of a small scale urban building.
The indoor spaces answer rationally to the functional program of a dermatology and plastic surgery clinic, alternating common spaces for patients with salons, cabinets, surgery block and specialized related functions.
