The Centre of Social Services in Montealto (A
Coruña, Spain) is located in a district of A Coruña, with large and growing
population. The plot has trapezoidal covering an area of 5.239,7 square meters.
The building of a single floor houses two different areas of use: on the one
hand, a Nursery School and an Elder Day Centre on the other. Both can enjoy the
space between them.
The functional programme is developed on the
ground floor, which suggests an immediate understanding of the building. This
is because is necessary to separate the different social uses and their
typologies, as Nursery School and Elder Day Centre.
The building was designed on efficient and clear
way concerning circulations, accesses and organization of the spaces. The
project organized the social services in three different volumes but integrated
by a common façade. Each space has specific functions according to needs of
use. The area oriented to the east is part of Nursery School. A courtyard and
school gardens run parallels to the School, so there are direct accesses from
the classrooms to the outside by large windows that provide natural light. Also
a large covered courtyard has been designed for use in rainy days.
The building of Elder Day Centre is developed
along the west side where the outer space with a terrace area is located and
from it people have direct access to the dining room. The last volume of Centre
of Social Services is in the south of the plot. This volume houses the services
area and equipment room of both centres.
In this way, the Centre of Social Services is
built in an elongated U shape, in the centre of which are common outdoors
areas, with a uniformity façade enclosing the building. Here, the central space
opens up accesses for vehicles as for pedestrians. There is a nearby courtyard,
so that older people can also walk on an soft pavement without risk of
falls. There is a visual continuity
between both parts of the building, from which there are views towards the sea.
The far ends of the construction have been designed with large windows on both
sides. In the Elder Day Centre, the roof rises to the top of the dining room so
that in this point is possible to have privileged views. Access to the plot
takes place on two points. It could be by a circulation ramp and for pedestrian
accesses is possible to use an external elevator, due the different in heights.
The big variations of the plot are resolved by green spaces around the
building.