Our proposal for the competition for the refurbishment of the Puerta de Hierro Hospital in Madrid, promoted last year, highlights this remarkable building designed by the modern architect Josep Bosch Aymerich. In this project we managed to enhance the value of the unique original architecture, based on the firm conviction of the importance of preserving modern architecture. In addition, the design created excellent conditions of well-being and intimacy in the hospital’s common and private spaces.

 

In the late 1950s, Bosch Aymerich was commissioned by the religious order of the Dominicans to build a hospital on a plot of land in this upper-class neighbourhood of the Spanish capital. The Catalan architect, who was also an engineer and who had studied in the United States, took advantage of the depth of the plot to design a building in the shape of an italic S. With this decision, he sought to avoid the distressing sensation of long corridors. Additionally, Bosch Aymerich combined the curved shape of the façade with a sawtooth shape to orient the windows. The aim was to avoid the strong sun of Madrid summers. Together, the two solutions achieved a unique image for the building.

Bosch Aymerich clad the building with small stoneware slabs in thirteen colours. In this way the undulating but jagged façade was coloured in shades ranging from blue to light pink. On the roof, the building was topped by a typically modern canopy.

 

Inside, the architect designed a floor plan in the form of a hippodrome, which was rare in Spain at the time but common in hospital architecture in the United States. The rooms were arranged on the perimeter, on both façades, with natural light, and on the inside a corridor with a double circulation was combined with the nursing units. This corridor received natural light through courtyards.

In 1964 the Dominicans sold the unfinished building to the Ministry of Labour, which led to some modifications to the project and the addition of a triangular chapel. Its roof is a hyperbolic paraboloid, in the style of Felix Candela, but also of the American SOM.

 

When approaching the architecture of this building of great historical and aesthetic value, we prioritised the recovery of its original elements. Our proposal preserves the characteristic and efficient organisational structure on the ground plan, with its double circulation in the form of a hippodrome, and recovers the volume of the singular Italic S. On the deteriorated façade, we proposed the restoration of the original aesthetics with a gradient-coloured ceramic tile.

Inside, the organisation of the corridors and the order of the façade, which are of course related, are maintained. In addition, for the well-being of patients and staff, more courtyards are opened up in the interior, making the corridors and common areas brighter. In short, the whole project focuses on enhancing the value of the original building, whose uniqueness and rationality must be preserved.

 

Another element of the modern movement that stands out in the hospital is the roof canopy. The project refurbishes it and locates the training and office areas on this level. But its central part is programmed as public so that patients can make use of this unique space. In this way, all users can enjoy the good views that allow them to appreciate the woodland Monte del Pardo.

The new hospital programme is aimed at ALS patients, who will undergo extensive rehabilitation, with short- and medium-stay accommodation. There will also be a palliative care unit.  In addition to this main programme, there is a therapy programme and a teaching programme. This is why the functions were arranged through two different accesses located on different levels. In this way, advantage is taken of the unique layout of the original building in the context of the 1960s, which was designed with three semi-underground levels, two of which were naturally illuminated.

 

As well as taking care to preserve the original project, maintaining as much of its appearance and structure as possible, one of the main aspects of our project has been the design of the rooms. The number of single-bed rooms has been maximised. In those rooms where there must be two beds to accommodate the required number of patients, we have designed a room that takes advantage of the double bay to maintain privacy. In this way we have respected the original structure of the building, while augmenting intimacy. As in all our sanitary projects, the design intentions are focused on achieving pleasant and beautiful spaces that prioritise wellbeing.