Emergency Department of the Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital

PROJECT: Emergency Unit of the Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital

The Emergency Department of the Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital in Alcalá de Henares was over two decades old, as was the rest of the health complex, so it had to be adapted to the new hospital uses in a reform and expansion process that had to coexist with the full operation of the service by applying a rigid plan of stages, phases and provisional works that had to address the difficult coexistence of two factors: construction process and health operation.

The works that have been carried out are the following:

• New constructions connected by passageways to the internally renovated buildings
• Expansion works, extension of the existing floor slab in order to provide a larger surface area to the interior functional areas.
• Previous renovation works. Works prior to the interior works aimed at enabling them (adaptation of a basement for rehousing)

Volumetrically, the renovated emergency department of the Príncipe de Asturias University Hospital is the result of expanding the façade of the existing building, implementing a cantilevered section over the service road. This section is connected by two passageways to a new volume, which is accessed by the ambulance ramps, sheltered upon arrival by a prominent canopy. The continuous bands and/or buttresses of the fenestration, the continuity of the cornices and parapets, and the tectonic sequence of the brickwork all contribute to a homogeneous and compositionally solid balance between the pre-existing and the new additions

The planned functional areas include: an observation area with 19 bays, a medical area with 22 bays, a pediatric area with 13 bays, a surgical area with 9 bays, and areas for traumatology, ENT, and psychiatry. In addition to these areas, covered ambulance access, a reception/information desk, triage and medical consultation rooms, three treatment and plaster rooms, and two resuscitation rooms (or critical care bays) have been planned and built. A radiology area with capacity for two scanners, a CT scanner, and an ultrasound machine has also been constructed, along with the corresponding support facilities: waiting rooms, restrooms, utility rooms, etc.