Defying Expectations: Health Centre CAP COTET by BAAS Arquitectura.

BAAS Arquitectura has designed the primary care centre CAP COTET located in the small municipality of Premià de Dalt in the Maresme region north of Barcelona, Spain. The architects sought to deliver a building that defied the standard expressions of health centres and integrated the building naturally with the scale of the surroundings.

Built loosely on a basilica plan, the building resembles a chapel with consultation rooms organised around a high central hallway akin to a classical nave. Above is a set of windows on the north side, bathing the interior in a surprising glow.

Architecture of Hope: Maggie’s Cancer Centre in Oldham, UK by dRMM.

Teaming up with world-renowned Architects, this organisation creates spaces that seek to use design to uplift those living...

From the outside, the building gives very few clues to its interior space, shielding itself from the road and allowing for privacy. A porch is one of the only clues, inviting as it is practical with a long brick bench offering shade, a rest spot and fresh air. A sloping wall leads inside to the nave, where the interior and its richness in light and materiality are met with surprise from visitors.

BAAS used materials traditional to the area—ceramic brick for the walls and the back, concrete in its most austere condition and varnished pine wood. All built by local craftsmen, the health centre was designed with the intent to last for a long time.

Aqua Health Clinic in Beijing, China by Waterfrom Design.

This clinic fuses traditional Chinese medicine principles with high-tech resources and a futuristic aesthetic...

[Images courtesy of BAAS Arquitectura. Photography by Gregori Civera.]