Colegiales Hospital | Concept Design

THE INNOVA ROOM has senior professionals, specialized in strategy, design and management of real estate assets.

In addition to the constraints involved in an intervention on an existing building, the client indicated that the works would be carried out with the hospital operating at 100% capacity.

A) Exterior Concept Design

The new design should consider the following aspects:

• Characteristics, attributes and values of the Colegiales neighborhood, where the hospital is located.
• Status and configuration of the different sectors of the complex. The 12,000 m2 are articulated through extensions of different buildings.
• An image representing the modernity and sophistication of the highly complex treatments carried out inside. This image should also maintain the appropriate scale for the neighborhood and the family character maintained in its first 50 years of life.

During the development of this phase, an open process of analysis, reflection and proposals was kept with the client. Biweekly verification meetings were scheduled, iwhere the progress of the process was evaluated with a minimum of three possible alternatives.

Thus, together with the client, a proposal was achieved in accordance with the objectives set, compatible with the existing situation and with the operation of Sanatorio Colegiales, and consistent with the expectation of a new image.

B) Design Development

Once the design concept was approved, its development was undertaken with the following conditions:

• The development of the design coincided with the restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic, which made impossible to carry out searches and collect data on site. For this reason, and considering the construction work on an existing building, it was established that the drafting of the executive project would be in charge of the main Contractor.
• The bidding documentation had to consider tasks and scopes in terms of the image approved by the client, while reserving degrees of freedom to manage the potential changes derived from contingencies and adjustments to the pre-existing structures.

Together with an allied architecture office (Schulz + Schulz), a full set of tender documentation was prepared. This included the general conditions of quotation and contracting, the descriptive memory, general and detailed plans, plus a unified spreadsheet of tasks and prices.

C) Contracting and site supervision

The client was assisted throughout the bidding process and award of the works. In particular, in the following tasks:

• Identification, evaluation and selection of bidders.
• Call for tender, management of the bidding process, comparison of offers and proposal of the best candidate.

Once the work was awarded, the design of the Sanatorium was supervised throughout the construction process. To do this, THE INNOVA ROOM assigned a resident senior professional on site, and the partners held weekly coordination meetings.

The first stage of renovation of the facade was completed in a period of 18 months, from Concept Design to execution. The solution for a particular sector was completely redesigned, since the resistance conditions of the existing structures required an alternative to the initial approved concept.

The result exceeded the expectations of the client and the entire community of clients -and neighbors- of Sanatorio Colegiales. The objective of implanting a contemporary image was achieved, without losing the values of closeness and familiarity present in the Sanatorium for 50 years.

Project teams:
Architecture. Schulz + Schulz Architects
Image source: Daniela Mac Adden