Day-Care Center for Elderly People / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Cityscape, Facade, WindowsDay-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Cityscape, WindowsDay-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Windows, Facade, GlassDay-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Fence, Facade, CityscapeDay-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - More Images+ 15

Baena, Spain
  • Project Team: Francisco Gómez Díaz, Marta Barrera Altemir, Javier Caro Domínguez, Miguel Gentil Fernández
  • Architecture Collaborators: Matheus Mehler, Ariane Chiaranda, Pablo Gómez
  • Developer: Consejería de Salud de la Junta de Andalucía
  • Quantity Surveyor: Francisco Sepúlveda Molina
  • Competition Motto: “Staring Eyes”
  • Budget: 1.350.004,63 €
  • City: Baena
  • Country: Spain
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Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Windows, Cityscape
© Jesús Granada

Text description provided by the architects. The historic city is the whole city, for it could be considered a palimpsest of overlapped layers, some visible, some subtle. The urban grid is then readable in historical terms, no matter what time it was actually built. The project tried to reach coherence both with new developments and the old town, contributing to a better understanding of the urban layout, not only by the users, but by every citizen.

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Fence, Facade
© Jesús Granada

The new day care center for the elderly has a bordering nature. With its hinge-like condition, it links the recent urban extension and the old town, operating in the boundary and trying to achieve a consequent presence, both within the territory and the urban realm.

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Image 14 of 20
Ground Floor Plan

Learning from certain built configurations often found in the traditional, steepness-conditioned grid of Baena, the volumes deconstruct the absorption of the patio house, in order to spread the in-between spaces to the landscape.

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Image 11 of 20
© Jesús Granada

In a dual process, the project brings the landscape and the historic landmarks into the building and, at the same time, tightens up the city with new urban vectors towards the limits of the ancient town footprint. The old town and the building pour into one another.

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Image 17 of 20
Section 2
Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Image 18 of 20
Section 3

Void and mass click together in the proposal. The in-between terraces create new sightseeing spots from which contemplating (and apprehending) the urban configuration. Simultaneously, the three volumes borrow framed views from the old town, which climbs up the hill right before the great eye-like windows.

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Cityscape, Facade, Windows
© Jesús Granada

Resembling Giambattista Nolli’s Plan of Rome approach, both the interior and the exterior spaces are conceived as extensions of the public space. Clearly under the influence of local Mediterranean tradition, a complex configuration of permeability degrees creates a constant indoor-outdoor connection, enabling a permanent presence of the gardens and the views in the inside.

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Handrail
© Jesús Granada

An infinite loop walk provides the elderly with the possibility of wandering while watching the impressive views. From the other side of town, when looking from the castle, the new landmark enables a new comprehension of the whole city: its scale, its limits, its historical evolution, its relationship with the territory.

A place to look from and to be seen.

Day-Care Center for Elderly People  / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab - Windows, Facade, Chair
© Jesús Granada

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Project location

Address:Calle Demetrio de los Ríos, 14850 Baena, Córdoba, Spain

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Location to be used only as a reference. It could indicate city/country but not exact address.
About this office
Cite: "Day-Care Center for Elderly People / Francisco Gómez Díaz + Baum Lab" 17 Sep 2015. ArchDaily. Accessed . <https://www.archdaily.com/773713/day-care-center-for-elderly-people-francisco-gomez-diaz-plus-baum-lab> ISSN 0719-8884

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