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Architects: avila arquitectos
- Area: 96 m²
- Year: 2016
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Photographs:Javier Callejas
Text description provided by the architects. The site is located in a developing residential quarter in the outskirts of Granada surrounded by new buildings and facing a wide avenue. All business nearby are newly implanted and lacking character. There is not an intense pedestrian life in this neighborhood so it is crucial to be easily spotted from the passing vehicles during both day and nighttime.
To oppose the lack of personality of the environment, the aim of the project is to synthesize the imagery of a classic pharmacy without falling into retro style, endlessly used nowadays. To that end, the project has focused on two main aspects: the visual connection between the sales area and the back shop and an accurate use of materials which may bring to mind a classical healthcare shop. With regard to the program of needs, the store must be divided into three different spaces: sales area, back shop and an office for personal attention. The client also requires a flexible distribution of the space that may allow easy changes in the future.
The proposal consists in a system of movable shelves that delimit the required areas. These shelves are composed of a simple lacquered steel structure, coated plywood boards and polycarbonate panels. They allow various configurations depending on the exposed product and can be assembled in different ways to define diverse spaces. The shelves are light and easily adjustable.
The white-lacquered steel used on the shelves reminds of the classic healthcare imagery, so as the simple square white tiles on the walls and the wooden details that have been added to the lower drawers and on the sales counter. The countertop is made of white marble with bevelled edges.The pendant lamps used over the counter and in the personal attention office were made using laboratory flasks.
Most pharmacies in Spain use standardized shelf systems provided by specialized firms. These systems are expensive and tend to unify the image of the newly implanted business. The shelves designed for this project give a distinct image to the pharmacy and delimit the various spaces in which the venue is divided as they also act as walls. The production cost is low because all units are equal and made of cheap materials (steel and plywood) which brought important savings to the final cost of the works. The use of polycarbonate panels provides the visual connection between different areas that was pursued from the beginning. The wall tiles and the hardwood plywood details unify the whole.
From the outside, the pharmacy has to be easily spotted from a car circulating at a medium distance both at day and nighttime. The solution is a façade composed by large windows and a shiny white lacquered steel cladding. During daytime, the white steel acts as a canvas for the green banner. In the nighttime, the banner lights up and the bright interior is shown through the large windows. The wooden frames in the windows match with the interior details.
