Elderly Care Center in the Duque de Crillon military barracks
The proposed actions on the old Duke of Crillon Barracks aim to implement universal accessibility in its interior, guarantee habitability and thermal comfort. Six main actions stand out:
- Elimination of architectural barriers, detected mainly on the ground floor, lowering the interior corridor to the level of the surrounding rooms and providing a ramp at the southern access to the square.
- Action in the envelope, providing a continuous thermal insulation layer on the roof and on the inside face of the enclosure, as well as opening of a longitudinal skylight on the southeast skirts of the side towers and the central body, which allow the control of sunlight in the living rooms and circulation spaces.
- Provision of an accessible and elevated terrace above street level to generate privacy and a landscaped pergola facing Calle del Duque de Crillon that acts as a thermal mattress on the ground floor, softening the incidence of the sun in the central hours of the day (South orientation).
- Elimination of false ceilings on the upper floors to provide the rooms with greater spaciousness and spatial quality, as well as to revalue the original structure of wooden trusses of the old barracks.
- Enabling the undercover gallery of the central body that allows communication between the two lateral bodies, providing the building with greater flexibility of use by the staff.
- The gaps in the lateral walls are opened.
The common spaces, both in the residence and in the day center, are located on the ground floor, with the exception of the three living rooms of the room modules. These common spaces on the ground floor are related -directly or visually through doors and windows- with the new terrace-garden on Calle del Duque de Crillon, through which they are connected to the outside.
The living rooms of each module, located on the first floor, are arranged at the two ends and the center of the building. They are connected to the corridor through a wide opening made in the thick central wall, which is exposed towards the interior to reveal the native sandstone. The two end rooms have three corner windows that provide cross ventilation while the central one is provided with overhead light through the skylight on the southeast skirt of the roof that falls on the undercover gallery and indirectly on the living room a through windows made in the upper part of the wall. With these measures it is tried to emphasize the character of semi-exterior space of these rooms.
