The Psychopedagogical Medical Center of Osona offers several services to its users, including a daily center (CADO), community rehabilitation, working insertion and a social club. These services were previously located in different buildings in the center of Vic. From a functional point of view and in order to achieve resource savings, the proposal relocates all services into a single new building, joining the parts of the programme that are common to all areas. The project aims to reinforce the relationship between all users by designing very domestic spaces and promoting social activity through architecture.
The building is conceived as a group of several pavilions communicated between themselves. These pavilions are located on different levels in order to adapt the building to the natural slope of the site. This strategy allows the project to respond directly to the topography while maintaining a human scale. The patios created between the pavilions provide an easy visual connection between inside and outside while preserving the privacy required by the users. The spatial organisation therefore combines interaction, openness and intimacy, creating a comfortable environment for daily activities and rehabilitation programmes.
Each pavilion is designed with a prefabricated modulated structure and incorporates a porch-balcony with vegetal cultivation on the south façade. These spaces play an important role in the life of the building, acting both as social areas and as environmental control elements. The porches can be closed during winter through polycarbonate panels to favour global warming and can be opened in summer to allow constant ventilation. In this way, they become a climate control support integrated into the architecture.
The roofs are light, ventilated and curved, a solution that optimises installation passages while minimising the height of the façades. Their design responds to both technical and environmental requirements. As with the porches, the roofs help regulate the indoor climate: during winter they keep accumulated warmth, while in summer they can be opened to improve ventilation and reduce interior temperatures.
A significant aspect of the project is the involvement of the future users of the centre. The programme was created together with the professionals who will work in the building, and part of the construction and gardening works are intended to be carried out by final users as a work insertion programme for people with several psychic damages. This approach strengthens the social dimension of the project and reinforces the relationship between architecture and community.
The proposal delivers a bioclimatic architecture based on passive environmental strategies. Ventilated vaulted roofs and the linear south-facing porch contribute to thermal comfort throughout the year, functioning as a hothouse in winter and as a sun filter in summer. Through these solutions, the project combines sustainability, climate control and social integration within a single architectural intervention.
