INSTITUTIONAL
Centro de Bellas Artes
de Humacao
Humacao, Puerto Rico
Located alongside one of the main boulevards of the city of Humacao this multi-useperformance center will host a variety of cultural and performing arts presentationsof local and international artists. The project is divided into two mayor componentsarranged in a triangular shaped 4.9 acre lot, first a main concert hall with seatingcapacity for one thousand persons, second a Convention Center composed of threeexhibitions halls with a capacity for eight hundred with a Theater Café for moreintimate presentations. These components are identified clearly as distinctivevolumes linked by a great public space that serves as entrance hall to bothcomponents. The approach to the building, both from the adjacent main boulevardand from the parking areas converge in a central plaza creating a spatialconnection between the site and the building. The parking area has beenenvisioned as an extension of the great entrance hall with the idea that it may beutilized for other activities. The parking pavement is constructed of permeablematerial and allows for large areas to be planted with grass and large trees toprovide shade helping to create the sensation of being a park. The theater is themain component of the building and it is expressed as the central hierarchicelement in the design. This theater is bordered by two horizontal volumes, one verytransparent that accommodates the interior circulation and another very solid thatcontains the service areas. A large gallery of stained colored glass forms a greatscreen of multicolored tones that evokes the surrounding landscape and makesreference to the Indian Almond tree which is one of the city’s main symbols. Thecontrast between the rough texture of the large exposed concrete walls with thecolored glass serves as a metaphor to the industrial past of the “gray city” as itmoves toward a more ecologically conscious future.
Hoya Grande Community Center Hormigueros
Hormigueros, Puerto Rico
“Focusing the community to look at its surrounding landscape.” The LocationLocated in the Barrio Guanajibo, part of the Hoya Grande sector of the Hormigueros Municipality. Four principal traits that describe the site: a school building filled with historical and cultural context, the strong community, a panoramic view of the landscape and the surrounding coast line.Design a Community Center for a rural population incorporating the rehabilitation of an existing historical school building. A meeting room that fits 150 people and a virtual library to serve the adjacent community. The building will be set facing the iconic landscape, serving as the link between the existing structures and the untouched land. A compact volume that considers common space as a link between the existing structure and the new one, respecting both structures’ autonomy. Seen as a sentinel peeking from the rural landscape along road #343. Travel up the climbing road to the top of the mountain where the Community Center sits. Upon facing the structure, access is through the threshold that serves as the vestibule or observation terrace to the center. Once through the threshold, you encounter the existing structure and the new one in a conversation between the present and past. The Center has a coffered ceiling comprised of wood and corrugated metal. Once inside, three grand window bays frame the panoramic view of the surrounding landscape. A grand glass balcony unifies both structures evoking the memory of the balconies from the classic homes of the past century as well as the island coffee plantations. Topographic considerations gave way to locating the parking lot in the basement or lower level. Once parked, you will be able to walk up the stairs through a semi-exposed patio leading to the main vestibule, encountering the entire landscape.Reinforced concrete with mortar for plaster, coffered ceiling comprised of wood and corrugated metal, paved with rustic terrazzo, Local mahogany closures with stained glass windows and functional shutters and walls with a natural slate overlay
Escuela Intermedia Pugnado Afuera
Vega Baja, Puerto Rico
The project is a school for 650 students with 24 classrooms, 3 labs, technical shops, cafeteria, library, administration offices and a covered basketball court. The design strategy was to locate the different building elements in the perimeter of the site in order to present a coherent facade towards the streets, contrasting with the prevalent urban disarray of surrounding neighborhoods.
Each building is treated differently reflecting its programatic purpose, yet armonizes as a whole with the others, interconnected with exterior corridors and forming interior courtyards. Students and staff enter thru a wide gallery of high proportions from where all corridors extend to the various buildings, classrooms, shops and sports facilities. The library, adjacent to the gallery, is exposed to the neighborhood as an invitation for its use by all.
Head Start de Lourdes Grotto
Trujillo Alto, Puerto Rico
The project is located on a 1.5 acre (approximate) lot on Road #876 of the Las Cuevas neighborhood of the Trujillo Alto municipality. The land belongs to the Lourdes Grotto Sanctuary situated on 10 acres (approx.) that coexists with a lush forrest.The trapezoidal shaped plot is located at one of the extremes of the main farmland, forming a corner entrance to the religious grounds. The project client is the Archbishop of San Juan, whom as the proprietor conceded the lot to be used to build a Head Start Daycare Center for children ages 3 to 5 years. The Center required capacity for 100 children to be distributed amongst 6 separate rooms. It also included an Administrative area, kitchen, storage facility, a multi-use meeting room and an exterior play area.
The main defining characteristics of the land are: a medium pitched topography inclined towards the access road, a lush forrest defining the sanctuary’s perimeter, grand trees arranged irregularly, and a rural path at the extreme of the land. The strategy was to approach the project with two clearly distinctive objectives: first, that the structure pose a sense of openness to the surrounding community that plays host to it and will benefit from its existence. Secondly, the main users of the project are the children, so the project will take usage considerations into the design such as the height, scale and their needs. A pleasant environment needed to be created linking the interior with the surrounding natural setting.
The project proposed the use of a “Diapason” shape. Formally, it creates a “U” with a deep opening towards the exterior of the land, allowing a tight link with the natural surroundings in contrast to the controlled aperture towards Tamizada street, that combined gate panels with pillars over the central access ramp. The center entrance uses a semi-open ramp that reaches a platform that serves as a balcony facing the street and as a distribution spot towards the interior patio and classrooms. Open corridors that border an existing tree, provide access to the play rooms that flank the entrance to the day care room. Through the interior patio you can see and access the play area created in the exterior patio. The bar parallel to the walkway houses all of the services and support facilities.
The opposite bar hosts the day care rooms. This bar was conceived more open than the one housing the service facilities. In the interior patio six volumes protrude clearly defining them as the “Play rooms”. The volumes are created in such a way that they create the illusion of being building blocks laid out on the patio between the corridors and the day care room. The volumes were built at a slightly lower level than the classrooms and with strategically placed gaps that encourage the children to play and peek within the spaces. Reading and physical activity are also encouraged via interactions with these gaps. Restroom facilities are located in the opposing face, which are accessed through the patio or the controlled access garden. This garden provides space to develop a home garden.
The day care rooms keep a continual line of vision through gaps similar to those used in the “Play blocks”, stimulating the children to investigate what is on the other side. Each classroom si self sufficient, but they still maintain communication through doors, allowing the caretakers to share between the rooms. The room ceilings have been designed on a small incline to permit the entrance of natural light at the highest point of the room. The main materials used in the construction are reinforced concrete, and painted plaster block. These materials were used on both of the bars except for the “Play blocks”, where various materials such as wood, exposed concrete, glass and stone were used to give each piece an autonomy.