ADICE HEALTH CENTRE, provoking and calm architecture design at the same time

Location description and society context The Healthcare centre Adice is located in the wider western part of the urban area of Novi Sad, Serbia. The settlement of Adice originated as unplanned at the time of the mass spontaneous immigration of the population to Vojvodina in the 1950s. As one of the most unformed districts in the city of Novi Sad, Adice is planned to be developed in the future in the fields of healthcare, education etc. for the needs of the family-oriented city district. According to the latest evidence, the population living in the Adice area counts more than 10.500 citizens. Analyzing the data from earlier years the evidence is that the number of inhabitants increased. Considering the distance from the city, the values of the real estate as well as land are not high. The fact that the prices of the land are more admissible, the evolution of the settlement continued with the same character and concept as single-family houses. The district of Adice in its boundary counts kindergarten, elementary school, high school, football stadium, restaurants, local companies, Danube river and other contents which contribute to the general standard. Architectural context and program In the matter of architectural design, the types of buildings that form the settlement are single-family houses. Archetypes of houses that form rural regions and the periphery of Vojvodina cities are designed with gabled terracotta roofs. Due to the fact that the district of Adice expansion was spontaneous, the street network is very dense and irregular as well as the position of the houses. The health care organization in Serbia is divided into three main parts – primary, secondary and tertiary healthcare. From the people’s point of view with good general health, primary health care is of the highest importance. Primary health care provides regular controls as well as preservation of the health of all people. The city of Novi Sad counts around ten primary health care institutions. Every city district is covered with at least one primary health care institution. The settlement of Adice, as one of the most undeveloped districts, wasn’t covered by any health institution until recently. The idea for the project Adice healthcare centre was created more than five years ago based on the analysis of the increasing number of inhabitants as well as the inhabitant’s needs. Based on the demographic progression the development of the institutions like this is of fundamental importance for the local community. Concept design The main question was how to create an authentic and contemporary healthcare building with provoking and calm architecture design at the same time. Based on the location, the realization was that the character of the area was defined by the single-family house architecture – terracotta gabled roofs. The architects approached the project with aim of ensuring that the building was intuitive in arrangement and holistic in experience for users. The emphasis was on creating a facility that is easy to access and navigate, psychologically calm, warm and welcoming both in the exterior and interior. This demand was made out of the matter of fact that people often have an aversion to a healthcare institution. The key goal was to design a building that would countermand that and to create a building that would be a place of comfort in every possible way, starting from the psychological comfort of users. Through the years of work in the architectural area, we came to the cognition that some forms of architectural elements and shapes are more comfortable in the sense of the psychological experience of people. One of the shapes that are convenient for such a purpose is curved shapes. Curved forms are fluidic where the inspiration is nature therefore, they bring positive feelings to human beings. Also, with the curved forms, there is a possibility to blend the object into the existing landscape or to make the building lighter. To intensify the effect of lightness we chose to use glass as a material for curved shapes on the ground-floor façade. The moment of freedom to enter the building plays a significant role in the people’s experience, especially in the healthcare architectural program. On the other side, we wanted the building to be provoking at the same time and to make people curious and intrigued. Sharped-edged shapes are more notable. People need to have a knowledge of existing such an institution because of its important role in the local community. As earlier explained, the building is composed of two opposite shapes. This division can be easily noticed visually. The ground floor plan is curved and transparent while the first-floor plan is rectangular and folded. Both, the shape and material, of the ground floor plan and the second-floor plan are different. The volume of curved shaped naturally demanded the light material in a certain meaning. The curved shape of the ground floor plan makes the effect of lightness and levitation. The ground floor plan is retracted relative to the first-floor plan which makes the effect of levitation of the first-floor plan even more expressed. The first floor is designed to be rectangular and closed. The visual extension of the first-floor plan is the roof, in shape and color as a metaphor. The concept of the roof is inspired by the panorama of the Adice, the settlement with significant terracotta gable roofs which was the symbolic way how to insert the building into the existing structure in the contemporary architectural language. The composition of the five gable roofs makes the perception of unity and recalls the density of the settlement. Speaking of interior design, there is a clear connection with the exterior design using a matching color pallet. Materials used in interior as well as in exterior design are contemporary, durable, eco-friendly and convenient for healthcare institutions.