Medical Heart Bles / OFFICEU architects
Textual content description supplied by the architects. The previous horse stables of the previous ‘Hollandia’ dairy manufacturing facility in Laken (Brussels) are being remodeled right into a medical neighborhood hub, containing a normal docs’ follow, a zone for paramedical practices, a polyvalent house, and a multifunctional circulation house. At the moment, the primary part of the work has been executed.
The second part is deliberate for early 2024. The 2 equivalent elongated constructing volumes with a attribute roof construction of successive picket trusses have been constructed within the first half of the twentieth century. The totally different zones of the mission every get their very own pocket, as a lightweight infill of the economic heritage. The medical follow goals to play an vital position within the social cohesion of the neighborhood by offering versatile areas to reply to the wants and wishes of the neighborhood and by paying particular consideration to a broad spectrum of health-related companies, from well being promotion and prevention to reactivation and aftercare.
Well being hub in an industrial shell. The municipality of Laken remained a rural and inexperienced district on the outskirts of Brussels for a very long time. Along with the Royal Area, the constructed setting primarily consisted of farms belonging to the native inhabitants and nation homes of the Brussels bourgeoisie. Due to the event of an vital rail and port infrastructure, a outstanding focus of companies arose within the second half of the nineteenth century.
At the moment, a panorama filled with contrasts stays from this industrial increase. Social housing estates and working-class neighborhoods alternate with heavy or gentle trade, broad avenues lined with townhouses, and artistic endeavors which are a part of the big embellishment works from the time of King Leopold II when Laken had develop into the royal residence. As soon as constructed as horse stables for the dairy manufacturing facility ‘Hollandia’, this constructing is now a silent witness to each the agricultural and industrial previous of Laken, a village that the rising metropolis of Brussels has lengthy swallowed up. On this relic, nothing greater than a ‘shell’ with a attribute roof construction of successive picket trusses, this system is added as gentle and versatile ‘pockets’ with a scale tailor-made to its features.
The intervention is essentially reversible. The structural logic directs a readable group. An interior avenue constructions the entire, the place the unique tough character – the brick ground, the tough wall finishes, the numbers of the horse packing containers, … – stays preserved. It kinds the tangible reminiscence of the place, making us consciously or unconsciously mirror on the wealthy previous, as a part of a steady strategy of change.
An enfilade of areas. The medical follow goals to combine into the neighborhood, responding to the wants and needs of the neighborhood. A mess of versatile areas is made accessible for initiatives that goal to carry collectively totally different ages and inhabitants teams, in addition to organizations particularly dedicated to susceptible folks, poverty discount, and social inclusion. The medical follow seeks to create a neighborhood round healthcare, recognizing the significance of a caring setting for well-being. An enfilade of areas, all linked to the interior avenue – a sheltered reinterpretation of the general public avenue – kinds a versatile framework for various programming based mostly on human interplay.
The useful ‘pockets’ every have their very own entry(es) by way of the interior avenue, which stretches over the complete size of the house, and the place the majestic roof construction and volumetrics of the previous horse stables stay absolutely expressed. The clusters are interconnected, making certain that the mission features as a complete and permits for flexibility of use. Spectrum of well being. Bodily and psychological well being usually are not a static given, the place one all of the sudden switches from one state to the opposite. Along with extra conventional medical companies, particular consideration is paid to the a lot broader spectrum of bodily and psychological well being, starting from well being promotion and prevention to reactivation and aftercare.
Every of the areas, from the extremely personal physician’s workplace to the semi-public interior avenue, creates a protecting setting that helps folks at numerous moments of their well being spectrum. An excessive amount of consideration is paid to reaching the appropriate steadiness between enough privateness and human interplay. Buffer zones present a gradual transition between private and non-private areas, and filtered views and bodily connections enable for contact at any time. The constructing additionally performs an vital position within the well-being of the affected person (and the physician). Pure supplies and a mushy colour palette contribute significantly to this, together with enough daylight and phone with (inexperienced) out of doors areas. In two locations, the roof masking is eliminated, creating patios throughout the constructing envelope that carry gentle, air, and greenery into the constructing, very like the ‘atrium’ and ‘hortus’ in a Roman domus.
