The Don Benito-Villanueva Hospital is a project whose development began almost 20 years ago and has been the subject of several different approaches over time. We joined the project with PHASE 1 already completed, facing three key constraints: a hospital building in operation, a new functional programme larger than the original in terms of floor area and facilities, and the requirements set out in the PIR.

The proposed model follows a traditional matrix hospital scheme, based on the model established in the 1990s with the Juan Ramón Jiménez Hospital (Huelva), with the fundamental premise of integrating the new intervention with what had already been built. The design respects the existing expansion model while introducing certain refinements that significantly improve travel distances and the logic of outpatient, clinical and service circulation routes. The central spine that organizes clinical circulation is maintained, as is the large lateral corridor that structures the new outpatient circulation, although with a more direct, intuitive and rational connection to the existing lobby. Furthermore, the capacity for future growth is an approach that should be mandatory in any new hospital development; following the same criteria established in the PIR, we have planned an extension to the north by extending both the clinical and outpatient axes.

The result is a more compact hospital, more efficient in terms of circulation and building services, with an improved form factor that reduces investment, maintenance and operating costs while enhancing the building’s energy performance. This measure not only frees the future expansion area from obstacles, but also allows us to reduce the building footprint by 22%; in other words, the proposal will require 22% less foundations and roofing.