Temporary Shelter Center | polo caritas
FERNANDO GUERRA | FG+SG

Temporary Shelter Center | polo caritas, são miguel | azores

BOX arquitectos as Architects

In an approach to the homeless community, the building resolves the issue of immediate temporary support, providing basic living conditions as well as primary care.
Composed of three distinct social institutions, the space is generally distributed among, dormitories, recreational areas and administrative spaces.
Specifically, the interior program is defined by rest areas, composed of male and female dormitories, varying between single, double and triple units, living and recreation areas, being part of these, bar and cafeteria. The management offices, medical office and maintenance personnel rooms complement the basic functional program.
This program also includes work areas for temporary occupation, educational gardens and gardening areas, outside, cared for by the users of the institutions, contributing to their social integration.
The complex program shapes the building, in the hope that architecture will recreate environments according to the dignity of the users.
From the urban point of view, the building assumes the ability to design the surroundings, qualifying the neighborhood where it is inserted, structuring the urban development of part of the city, in a perspective of structuring urban expansion.
This structural responsibility is achieved by the absence of secondary facades, the building assuming distinct functions in each elevation, with a specific functional program in each one. If on the one hand the south elevation receives the main administrative entrance, the north elevation functions as a leisure area attached to the cafeteria. West reserves the entrance and development of workshops. East is linked to the reception of users of social support.
Properly, the building had to resolve, the entry of light into a body that although dynamic, assumed a considerable volume with the program necessarily turned inwards. Thus, the torn openings in the various roofs, allow the natural and constant lighting of the building, providing a functional use of the whole.
In its concept, the architecture of the building, exhaustively explores its implantation and confrontation to the marginal plan in all its elevations, also considering the roof as its fifth elevation. In this way, the project dialogues directly with the surrounding urban network, assuming itself with community unification, in a logical understanding of the city.

Project Spotlight
Product Spotlight
News
kadawittfeldarchitektur realizes Cologne-based think tank with feel of an industrial workshop
19 Sep 2024 News
kadawittfeldarchitektur realizes Cologne-based think tank with feel of an industrial workshop

InnoDom Cologne is an innovation and start-up center designed by German architectural studio kadawit... More

Localworks completes Namabaale Education Centre campus in Uganda
18 Sep 2024 News
Localworks completes Namabaale Education Centre campus in Uganda

Namabaale Education Centre nestles in the lush and undulating landscape of Lwengo District in the Ce... More

25 best ceramic facade cladding manufacturers
18 Sep 2024 Specification
25 best ceramic facade cladding manufacturers

Ceramic facade cladding has become a favorite among architects and designers for its combination of... More

25 best architecture firms in China
17 Sep 2024 News
25 best architecture firms in China

Chinese civilization, one of the oldest in the world, spans thousands of years, and its rich heritag... More

Minty House extension by Peter Morris Architects uses polystyrene-based imitation stone material
17 Sep 2024 News
Minty House extension by Peter Morris Architects uses polystyrene-based imitation stone material

“Minty House” is the result of a colorful and quirky architectural intervention on a Vic... More

John Puttick Associates adds glulam porch to historic church in Hove
17 Sep 2024 News
John Puttick Associates adds glulam porch to historic church in Hove

London-based architectural studio John Puttick Associates has completed the refurbishment of St Leon... More

Key recent projects by IDOM
17 Sep 2024 News
Key recent projects by IDOM

IDOM is a global firm headquartered in Bilbao, Spain. It was founded by Rafael Escolá in 1957... More

Apartment tower facade designed by ACDF Architecture evokes memories of Montreal’s Victorian homes
16 Sep 2024 News
Apartment tower facade designed by ACDF Architecture evokes memories of Montreal’s Victorian homes

“Link” is a 19-story contemporary apartment tower in the Shaughnessy Village neighborhoo... More