Memory of project by ACXT
The Hospital of Amarante is located on a plot of land of mild relief. Its program combines the uses of an outpatients’ department with those of an emergency department. Each one has its own entrance. The outpatient clinic, to the north, is on the ground floor; the emergency ward, to the west, is on floor -1. The building houses a day hospital, a mental health unit, a physical medicine and rehabilitation service, diagnosis and day-surgery complementary means and 60 hospital beds.
The hospital, four storeys high, is shaped like a rectangle, formed by a grid of independent volumes, interconnected by a longitudinal axis. The interstitial spaces between the volumes create two types of patios: closed on the inside and open to the outside.
The project was built on the idea of changing the cold relationship between hospitals and its patients. The purpose was to create a closer, cosier and more human environment that, furthermore, relates to its natural surroundings by fading the inside-outside borders. The location was worth it and the patients deserved to enjoy it.
Also vital to the design was its functionality and efficiency.
