New dialysis and teaching at Hospital C. de l’Alt Penedès

The Hospital Comarcal de l’Alt Penedès was designed by Francesc Pernas in the early nineties, and CASA SOLO has carried out several expansion and renovation projects.
The new extension building has been designed as a singular piece that closes the existing volumetry in a respectful way, integrating itself in a quiet and elegant way through its materiality, of masonry with a green sheet roof.
In this way, the new volume is integrated into the complex, dialoguing with it.
The break-up of the masonry on the second floor generates louvers that allow controlling the solar incidence in its interior, providing at the same time a special character to the extension.
Access to the first floor is through a widening of the sidewalk.
A large side access porch, a bench and a planter with shrubs and a low-maintenance native tree make up the exterior access space to the new unit.
The large window in the waiting room and the circular opening of the porch bring light and character to the access area, making it easily recognizable from the outside.
The extension houses the dialysis treatment and nephrology care unit on the first floor, and the teaching and research area on the second floor.
Friendly and universal design criteria were taken into account, and a participatory process was carried out with patients and healthcare professionals before the project was drafted.

(Photos by Bosch Pascual)