Menongue Parametric Hospital

The Menongue Parametric Hospital responds to the necessity of a new provincial hospital for the African region of Cuando Cubango, in the heart of the Republic of Angola. Until the construction of this facility, the infrastructure was very limited: it was extremely important to build a health centre in the area, thereby avoiding long journeys that could make a substantial difference in the event of a medical emergency. The proposal was to create a 200-bed hospital with the parametric system, as this allows design and construction in a very short period of time, instead of the three or four years it usually takes for a hospital to come into use. 

Another contribution of the parametric system is that it maintains the technological standards, both in terms of construction and equipment, subsequently allowing the hospital to grow organically given its hyper-flexibility. In order to achieve this, a modulated and functional architecture was proposed with a structural grid that guarantees maximum flexibility of operation, making it possible for the hospital to adapt in the future to the continuous changes experienced in the health sector, without altering its current configuration and its normal operation. Thanks to the strategic layout of the building on the site, it can be expanded easily.

The new hospital was conceived from the repetitive idea of a large container (housing one or more services) which is broken down by the sequential insertion of courtyards, the separation of circuits (technical/patient) and the different entrances: general, emergency, obstetric centre, morgue and supplies. The singularisation of these entrances and circuits, along with the rich combination of floor and section coatings, transparencies and crossed views, guarantees the unity of the building as a whole.

At a constructive level, it's a modular building, using a single basic module of 7.00m x 6.80m. It is also functional in a way that the building is modulated according to the level of accessibility of the different services, placing the most restricted, ambivalent and public areas from left to right. These areas are connected perpendicularly by wide 'covered streets'. On the other hand, the Menongue building has been adapted to its environment, using construction materials typical of the area, such as masonry and Portuguese roof tiles. In short, it combines local tradition and modernity, making it a genuine member of the parametric family.