The intervention is located in the surroundings of the ancient military barracks Sancho-Dávila, in San Cristóbal district, Lorca (Murcia), a place with a privileged setting referred to the Lorca city since, according to the General Development Plan of Lorca, it has a strategic location for those who approach from the city centre (pedestrian and internal vehicular traffic accesses, cars- motorbikes- bicycles) and those who approach from the outside by other means of transport (car, train, coach, etc.).
HEALTH CENTER
Thanks to the construction of the University Health Sciences Campus a solution is addressed not only to the university campus, but also to the whole of Lorca inhabitants, who are also invited to take an active part in this experience by enjoying a list of complementary uses, such as urban gardens, outdoor exhibit spaces for temporary performances (marquees, …), woodlands, vegetable gardens where health and aromatic plants can grow, play and sports grounds , an auditorium, several exhibition areas and a congress hall, etc.
From this intervention on, a reference point of cultural and leisure activities (all related to health) is created, where both educational and leisure activities take place involving Lorca by extension. This Project, which could be conceived as a real Health Center, means placing Lorca at the level of the advanced cities of the “knowledge society”.
The project is focused on both the buildings and the new public space, trying to give complete coherence to the area. At the same time, material and design aspects, a hallmark of almost every contemporary public building, are taking into account. The intervention consists of a car park distributed in two floors, a great public space and several buildings such as the Rectorate (a restored military building), totally new buildings such as the library, the lecture room building and the Integrated Center of Professional Training.
All these constructions are linked by the ground floor plan, which is treated as an open-plan area in order to create a continuous and protected space, where people can stay, relax, meet, stroll, etc.
The project development starts from a number of general criteria which do have influence on the design of the different buildings and spaces:
– A continuous plan is created on the ground floor level.
– Open and outdoor spaces are generated in the Campus (park included).
– The buildings rises a little to generate shadow and protected areas, places where the user is allowed to settle them on freely, affecting no way their accessibility and immediate nature.
– There are areas of intense use below the buildings: areas which provide new conditions, alternatives to the inner building and the surfaces in the open air.
– All the elements are linked to the city centre, to the South Campus access garden, and the green park to the North, so that from South to North (from the urban garden, passing by the Campus-Park, we arrived at the natural setting in the North), and in the opposite direction (from North) Nature comes to the city centre.
– All these connections generate a very busy pedestrian road between the city ,the Campus and the different buildings , which is carefully treated and protected, as well as emphasized through a pedestrian crossing (ground floor level), connecting all the buildings to each other and at the same time, to the city.
– A continuous open-air, green and humid carpet is created, with public spaces dedicated to leisure and sports activities, giving priority to university uses (Investigation + Development), exactly as it happens in other European campus, generating a Health complex where healthy habits take shape(cultural, sporty and leisure ones).
– Cars are prevented from pouring out onto the campus. Because of the intense traffic it concentrates and its direct connection to the city, road nº3 becomes the main traffic axis.
Buildings are conceived from a regular modular construction which offers a comprehensive image of the pieces as an overall style and makes the underground floor compatible with the program above ground level. Moreover, they give a solution to many possibilities with barely a few elements (versatile and multifunctional) so to adjust the cost and make the intervention as efficient as possible.
The execution of this new campus involves an effective solution not only to the students, faculty and staff, but also to the whole of Lorca society who could also enjoy the future complementary facilities. These services are thought to be the best combination: urban gardens, shadow areas, playgrounds, outdoor exhibit spaces, woodlands, vegetable gardens where health and aromatic plants can grow, play and sports grounds, an auditorium, several exhibition areas and a congress hall, etc. A variety of uses (educational, didactic and leisure ones) all mixed up which will be at undergraduates and, by extension, Lorca service.
