HCJB Radio, The Voice of the Andes, is a pioneering organization in Ecuador and the world; established in Quito, its first transmission in 1931 was listened to on the 6 radio receivers existent then in the country.
By the 1940s, programs were broadcast in 14 languages, and in the decades that followed, its signal reached audiences all over the planet.
From the beginning, its mission included working for the most needy, establishing services like rural medical dispensaries or later, the Vozandes Hospital in Quito. It soon became an exemplary institution in the country, both in mass communication and for its community work, always in continuous development for the benefit of society.
In time, HCJB gave shape to an entire sector of Quito; from 1938 what became the Vozandes neighborhood began to develop, starting with the radio complex, the homes of its personnel, later the hospital and other complementary buildings.
A different, eclectic architecture with North American influence was introduced here, characterized above all by the geometry and materiality of its roofs, and by the use of porches, or transitional spaces between private interiors and public exteriors.
In 2021, due to internal reorganization, a private competition was called to design the new headquarters for HCJB Ecuador, on a site previously occupied by 2 houses, in the Vozandes neighborhood, presently consolidated with medium-rise multipurpose buildings, alongside some of the original constructions.
How then, to embody this permanent and fundamental relationship with the community in the new building?
How to introduce public, communal spaces in a private program with such specific characteristics and requirements for ¨isolation¨?
What is the architecture that fosters these relationships, that welcomes, that represents such a significant history, and at the same time, can be a contemporary and flexible workspace, adaptable to changing uses and the evolution of HCJB over time?
Our winning scheme sets off with these questions and proposes an open, modifiable and expandable system, based on an atrium plus a terrace patio.
Both spaces articulate the diverse programme of HCJB - radio, audio and video studios, a conference room for presentations and to welcome the community, formal offices and flexible work areas, museum, technical areas -, along with offices for rent or for sale.
Both spaces are for private, semi-public or public use, depending on the need, type of event or moment in time; the atrium works in tandem with a public plaza that integrates the front setback with the sidewalk, opening the building to its neighborhood.
Placed diagonally, the atrium and the terrace patio, organize and distribute the uses, in plan and section, according to degrees of public access, and if destined for HCJB or for rent or sale; the building is effectively divided into 2 blocks, capable of communicating horizontally and vertically or not, allowing HCJB flexibility of occupancy and growth, or to lease offices from the 2nd floor up.
Two staircases that connect HCJB's particular spaces are fundamental elements of the atrium, marking and determining one space within another, the private within the public. The functional vertical circulation allows segregation of the aforementioned uses and universal access to all areas.
Both the atrium and the terrace patio are conceived with dual attributes:
Open to the city, but welcoming to the community; public and private; contemporary and flexible, yet based on and representative of, the history of HCJB.
The large south wall of the atrium is designed as a support to represent this history, with a mural worked in the same plywood as the wall and enveloping ceiling, which suggests the continuity of the mission towards the future, in view of the community and the city.
The terrace patio, defined by its two edges of landscaped and tree-lined benches, together with the sequence of tree-lined terraces on each floor, are the green and open space necessary for community events, but central to daily work, permanent meeting spaces, as were the gardens of the original radio complex.
Defining outset conditions are solved with the atrium plus terrace patio scheme:
The possibility of occupying only the southern half of the lot, providing for an extension or future design of another building to the north.
And, the possibility of changing and/or expanding, during the development of the project or in the short term, the distribution of HCJB's internal programme and the offices for rent or sale; in fact, one floor was added during construction.
Likewise, considering efficiency and responsibility, as well as the possibility of eventual dismantling of the building, a dry, light and strictly modular construction system was determined, using simple, local materials, with low impact, maintenance and cost. Due to complex ground conditions, together with the variable dimensional and load-bearing capacity requirements, the structure had to be solved in steel and concrete.
The light metal roofs, in materiality and geometry, are based on the architecture that gave shape and identity to the Vozandes neighborhood.
