Vila Franca de Xira Hospital

Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal

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Vila Franca de Xira Hospital

Vila Franca de Xira, Portugal

Firm

Andreas Mörschel

Type

Government + Health › Hospital

STATUS

Built

YEAR

2013

SIZE

500,000 sqft - 1,000,000 sqft

BUDGET

$50M - 100M

The new VFX Hospital has capacity of 284 beds and a clinical gross construction area of 48.563 m2 by an overall gross construction of 69.293 m2 including technical areas and underground parking.

Located on a hillside plot on the outskirts of Lisbon’s metropolitan Region near Vila Franca de Xira, the site designated for the new hospital counts with several constrains as an average 20% slope along with two creeks, their legal protection zones and some protected cork trees.

Besides the ideal “form-follows-function”, and far of being located on an ideal plot for healthcare unit, this building adapts perfectly into the terrain while maintaining the complex neighborhood relations through an innovative Matrix of vertical and horizontal ties and relationships, resulting in the desired proximity level with clarity in its design.

To reinforce the desired proximity, room schedule and functional program have been optimized leading to improved synergies and flexibility of use. Special attention has been paid to distinguished circulations for outpatients, inpatients, staff and supplies.

The building adapts to the terrain using its innovative matrix, linking the horizontal basis with the two transversal upper volumes while rescheduling the traditional allocation and grouping of services and departments in order to boost functionality.

This configuration reduces drastically the need of soil movements and permits that the building adapts in a natural way to the site without creating a disruption of the existing morphology turning the required, enormous volume of construction into an elegant landmark.

The hospital is based on principles of modularity and application of repetitive solutions with durable materials that enable greater economies of scale and provide a longer life cycle, lower maintenance and consequently a long term strategy of sustainability and efficiency of energy. Natural light and visual external relations enhance a humanization of spaces and comfort to users and professionals.

The hospital is characterized by a basement volume- the “heart” of the hospital where are located the technological departments such as the operative theaters, the emergency unit, the imaging and ICU- and two parallel upper volumes with an east-west orientation resulting in a soil moving works economy. One of the upper volumes hosts the impatient wards with its individuals and doubles bedrooms, and Tagus Estuary river visual sight. The other volume, above the main square, hosts the medical and general support services, with separated entrances for supplies and equipment.