Alzheimer Research Centre (2012)

Mixed Use

Barcelona, Spain

The intention of this development placed in the Port Vell of the city of Barcelona, is to provide a fluid continuous integration between living, urban and landscape surroundings.

The general concept for the design responds to a strategy that connects the exterior neighbourhood to the interior of the complex. The main circulation lines of pedestrian, park, subway and road routes, are brought into the site by two dynamic gestures, to generate a series of construction lines highly connected to the area. As a result, the scheme comprises two characters of programs (from nursing to medican reserach) with its own private courtyard. The ground landscape level is visualized as a very green layer, emphasizing the presence of florid vegetation in Seouls’s climate.

A mixed-use development, its ingredients are designed to promote a lively urban quarter where elderly people can live and enjoy life in the heart of the city. Communal and public facilities, including leisure, commerce, medical and educational are grouped from ground to floating level, ranging in privacy. The interior gardens are re-organized into a series of terraced plateaus to maximise the area dedicated to this communal site amenities.

The orientation and placement of the buildings is optimized in relation to the sun’s path as well as to maximize views out towards the surrounding city, landscape and the Mediterranean Sea.