Opened in 1980 as a Military Hospital, the professionalisation of the Armed Forces in 2004 led to its transfer from the Ministry of Defence to the Regional Government of Andalusia. The following year, the preliminary study and the various administrative procedures began to take shape with the aim of transforming this medium-sized hospital into a landmark building within the healthcare network of Seville and its province. Thus, in 2007, works began on a large part of the hospital’s original structure, increasing inpatient capacity and committing to the modernisation of healthcare services. In 2010, the works were officially halted, when the effects of the crisis in the construction sector had become more than evident. From that moment on, the hospital was abandoned until 2020, when a new crisis—this time a health crisis—opened the door to its first partial commissioning, as the seed for a future comprehensive refurbishment of the entire building.

As a consequence of the Covid-19 crisis, the Andalusian Regional Ministry of Health and Families identified the need to carry out emergency works for the partial completion of the Vigil de Quiñones Hospital. These works were undertaken under emergency procedures in response to the needs of the contingency plan for the province of Seville, developed by the Regional Ministry of Health and Families due to the resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

By that time, in 2020, this colossal 12-storey building, composed of a podium and tower, had been completely stripped out. It had become a vast skeleton in which pigeons coexisted with traces of clandestine human presence—bonfires, graffiti and damaged personal belongings. Some areas were practically finished, but severely affected by the passage of time, exposure to the elements, and repeated episodes of theft and looting. The building’s previous condition and the degree of completion of each area were the subject of a comprehensive analysis, taking into account the deterioration caused by the time elapsed since the works had stopped, the need to adapt to current regulations, and the need to adopt contemporary finishing solutions.

For the Phase 1 intervention, a global analysis of the building and of the programme requirements needed for the expected outbreaks was carried out. The actions required to comply with current regulations in the already executed areas were also considered. The healthcare objective for this first phase of intervention was to provide a specific capacity of 144 inpatient beds—24 single rooms and 12 double rooms per floor on levels +4, +5 and +6—and 25 intensive care beds, in addition to commissioning other support areas such as diagnostic imaging, kitchen facilities and administration. This first phase covered an area of 16,850 m².

In 2021, the same emergency procedure was opened to carry out Phase 2, covering 19,914 m². The interventions carried out by level were as follows:

LEVEL +0

• Refurbishment of the new main lobby and principal entrance. The central staircase, which provided direct access to level +1, was demolished. Continuity was given to the volume of the podium by creating a three-storey atrium, covered by a skylight and flanked by a triple-height curtain wall. This space accommodates the staircases leading to the upper levels, the user information area and an indoor garden.
• Healthcare services and maintenance area. The entire northern area of the building was refurbished to house healthcare services and maintenance facilities, including workshops, electromedical services, storage, laboratory, linen room and changing rooms.

LEVEL +1

• Inpatient area and acute day unit for adult and child and adolescent mental health. The pandemic highlighted the need to address the various mental health conditions affecting the population. The mental health unit is divided into an adult area and a child and adolescent area, with 13 and 4 single rooms respectively, both with the possibility of being used as double rooms. Each area has communal spaces and a separate terrace.
• Administrative area. Day hospital, with 21 stations and 8 consultation rooms. Continuity day hospital, with 7 stations and 4 consultation rooms.

LEVEL +2

• Surgical block, with 10 operating theatres.
• Post-anaesthesia care unit, with 42 stations.
• Endoscopy area, with 7 rooms and 11 recovery stations.
• Auxiliary ICU area.

LEVEL +7

• Internal Medicine inpatient unit: 24 beds in double rooms and 21 beds in single rooms.

LEVEL +8

• Respiratory Care inpatient unit: 16 beds in double rooms and 10 beds in single rooms.
• Intermediate Respiratory Care Unit: 8 beds.

LEVEL +9

• High Dependency inpatient unit: 20 beds in single rooms specially adapted for people with reduced mobility.
• Gym and rehabilitation area.

GENERAL:

• Demolition and new construction of the services penthouse on level +3 corresponding to the surgical block, as well as the new penthouse of the south-west block.
• Replacement of joinery on all new inpatient floors, including motorised blinds.
• New urbanisation of the hospital access area, provision of parking spaces for ambulances and other vehicles—goods vehicles, cars, motorbikes, bicycles, etc.—and redistribution of roadways to separate traffic flows, with exclusive and separate lanes for ambulances and loading and unloading.
• New northern ramp providing access to level +0, following demolition of the former emergency canopy.
• Cladding of the entire tower with fixed and movable louvres, as well as the western front of the podium. This is the most visible intervention and the one that has completely transformed the image of the hospital. In its previous state, the podium had a partially completed façade of staggered galvanised steel louvres, while the inpatient tower had an exposed brick façade with ceramic appliqués corresponding to the window bands.

In Phase 2, the solution implemented for the new southern access in Phase 1 was continued for the inpatient tower, combining strips of latticework with strips of aluminium louvres. The louvre strips are movable, allowing them to be operated from inside the rooms and to regulate the entry of light. This adaptability means that the façade presents different elevations depending on the various positions of the louvres. In the podium, the existing auxiliary structure was used to clad the entire volume with perforated steel sheet, allowing for a unified and restrained reading of the whole volume.

An important aspect of this project is that, in addition to its singular technical and administrative context, it is a refurbishment and extension project that had to be carried out while maintaining the healthcare activity already taking place. This situation adds a further degree of complexity, as it was necessary to coordinate the construction process while considering how each specific intervention could affect the hospital’s overall functional and circulation structure. This intervention therefore required the application of a different working process, adding a higher level of intervention that we call “the project of the project”. It is a different working model that must not decisively condition the architectural solution designed.

The execution of this Phase 2 has been a major challenge: a building with parts that had remained abandoned for more than 10 years; emergency works; developing the project while construction was underway; managing the works; resolving the inevitable contingencies as they arose; and maintaining the works without interfering with healthcare activity. All this took place under close scrutiny from both the administration and public opinion.

The experience gained tells us that no hospital will be conceived as it traditionally was. We are no longer speaking of flexible hospitals from the perspective of slow and gradual change. The future requires hospitals capable of providing immediate responses, flexible both in use and capacity, and in the short term.