COMPREHENSI VE CENTRE FOR THE HOMELESS
Car r erdeSant aAnna,Bar cel ona
Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture - Master’s thesis
5.2 Comprehensive centre for the homeless 5.2.1 Location+Action The second proposal is presented as a more complete and at the same time complex project than the previous one, as it attempts to bring together the maximum points dealt with in the study of the subject of this thesis and its crystallisation in the form of an architectural project. It is located in the Ciutat Vella district, one of the districts most affected by street homelessness, like the Gothic quarter and the Raval, in the vicinity of the church of Santa Anna, which, as we analysed in previous paragraphs, carries out a commendable humanitarian work by giving up and arranging spaces in the church for the homeless. Fig.157 Location of the project in the historic centre of Barcelona Made by the author.
The first of the points that we can understand as “action” itself is the location itself. As we reported in the overview, the demand for resources for these people is unfortunately much greater than the available supply, which means that the treatment cannot be comprehensive and therefore, these people return to the street. However, when they do get some kind of help, they stay in the vicinity of
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the centres, where the resources are concentrated, and for this reason, I understand that it is essential to create proximity facilities that implement the help and action provided. Moreover, this parish is close to Las Ramblas, Plaça de Catalunya and Portal de l’Àngel street, which have a large number of shops whose doors, once closed, are turned into improvised homeless camps until the next day’s opening time. Thus, in this location, two principles are combined: implementing assistance in places where it was already being carried out and creating proximity facilities that feed back into this first action. Fig.158
Location of the project in the historic centre of Barcelona (II) Made by the author.
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Fig.159 Homeless person sleeping rough at the doors of El Corte Inglés - Plaça Catalunya Photo taken by the author
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Homeless people sleeping at the doors of El Corte Inglés - Plaça Catalunya Photo taken by the author
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As we can see, the result of this location is not accidental, on the one hand these people find accommodation under large covered spaces that allow them to shelter from the rain, they do not find anti-homeless elements as they are places of passage with a large influx of people during the day, they are close to the places where resources are provided in the historic centre and it is also where they usually spend the day taking advantage of the opportunity to ask for a coin, logically where the largest number of tourists in the city accumulates. Moreover, by choosing this location, a respite is provided to the church, which even during visiting hours is in the following way and does not have the means or the space to accommodate as many people as it needs. Even the administrative work takes place in chapels inside the church, detracting from the architectural ensemble, which is trying to be solved in the same way. Fig.161 Interior of Santa Anna church during visiting hours With blankets and homeless people’s belongings Photo taken by the author
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Fig.162 Overall site plan. Made by Comprenhensive the centre for the homeless author 195
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Fig.163 Overall site plan with intervention Comprenhensive centre for the homeless Made by the author 197
Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture - Master’s thesis
The choice of the plots on which to act is influenced by two basic factors. The first is a logical consequence of its proximity to the church, as well as the interior space in the form of a square after crossing the arch of the former house of the church canons. The second is their condition. Firstly, from Santa Anna street it can be seen how these buildings are in a high degree of deterioration, especially if we are talking about a central location in the city, and furthermore, the ground floor of these buildings is occupied by commercial premises for tourists, making it better to change them. In the same way, the building facing inland, the Plaçeta de Ramon Andreu, is a party wall with small openings that practically overlaps the church. The successive growth of the city has gradually cloistered the religious building until it is practically hidden among a series of buildings of great height in comparison with the parish church and of little architectural value. Fig.164 Carrer Santa Anna facade of choosen buildings Photo taken by the author
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Plaçeta Ramon Amadeu facade of choosen building Photo taken by the author
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Plaçeta Ramon Amadeu facade of choosen building (II) Photo taken by the author
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Fig.167
Intervened pre-existence plan Made by the author
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Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture - Master’s thesis
Fig.168 Ground floor plan of the intervention Made by the author
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Fig.169 First floor plan of the intervention Made by the author
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Fig.170 Upper floors plan of the intervention Made by the author
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As can be seen in the planimetry provided, the centre is crystallised in an integral manner in the buildings highlighted and the programmatic development is consolidated according to the theoretical and human approaches perceived and learnt during the study of the subject. We thus observe a ground floor that operates as a basic service space that, besides helping the work of the adjoining parish, implements its development, proposing a dining room and complete kitchen, relocating the existing one in the cloister of the church with the consequent climatic aggravation to which it is subjected, opening it up to the Plaçeta de Ramon Amadeu, thus improving this space from being a place of passage prior to the chapel to a nexus of union between the two spaces. In the same way, on the façade with Carrer de Santa Anna street, a vocational training classroom has been created in which the people from the centre can begin their inclusion in society by learning a trade that will allow them to earn an income that will in turn open the doors to a decent residence. The theme of the workshop will therefore be variable and can be linked to the workshop room if necessary. In addition, with the entrance through the Plaçeta, the programme development is complemented with services that I understand to be of basic necessity when dealing with this group. One of them, as previously shown, is the space for lockers and storage of belongings. 89.
Panadero-Herrero, S., & Muñoz-López, M. 2014. “Salud, calidad de vida y consumo de sustancias en función del tiempo en situación sin hogar”, p.2
Likewise, it is proposed to create space for psychological-behavioural therapy by social workers and public social-health staff, such as a room for group therapy to deal with addiction issues if the users so wish, as well as rooms for individualised attention.89 The ground floor is completed with an interior courtyard which, in addition to providing light and ventilation, serves as a relaxing space open to the outside but at the same time secluded, and at the same time, allows users who have a pet to have a place where they can leave it in the care and company of others. The ground floor is complemented with the upper floor where accommodation is provided in the form of a temporary shelter with different conditions to those that can be found inside the church during the night, thus opening up to the particular needs of each user with ample natural light, as well as a communal space linked to an outdoor
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terrace connected to the lower courtyard, creating a large space in which to spend time in company in a pleasant way away from the exposure of the public thoroughfare. In the same way, the creation of a space of bathrooms that improve the performance of the existing ones in the parish by means of portable toilets for the homeless, as well as the creation of a series of single or double rooms that can be used indistinctly by users who meet the requirements for the same according to their profile and needs, or for workers of the centre. On the upper floors, housing is created following the Housing First model, which offers permanent housing with support and socio-educational monitoring for homeless people and those in a situation of severe social exclusion. The programme is aimed at people in a situation of chronic homelessness, with a long history of living on the street or occasionally in residential resources, who have not established ties and have serious mental health problems or addictions. Housing First is an alternative to a system of emergency shelter/transitional housing progressions. Rather than moving homeless individuals through different “levels” of housing, whereby each level moves them closer to “independent housing” (for example: from the streets to a public shelter, and from a public shelter to a transitional housing program, and from there to their own apartment in the community). Housing First model moves the homeless individual or household immediately from the streets or homeless shelters into their own accommodation. The aim is to contribute to the Barcelona City Council’s plan, “Primer la llar”, as a model of intervention with the city’s homeless, which essentially proposes to support the work of social educators and mental health staff by providing homeless people with what they need first: a home. So the goal here is to initiate a process of recovery and improvement of the person’s quality of life so that they can remain in the home with no other support than the normalised network of services, to achieve personal and economic autonomy, the recovery of personal self-care skills, the reestablishment of social and family relationships, and an improvement in their relationship with their environment.
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Fig.171 Current facade
5.2.3 Elevation&Sections
Drawn by the author
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Fig.172 Façade during renovation works Made by the author
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Fig.173
Intervention. Front elevation facade plan Made by the author
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Fig.174
Intervention. Lateral elevation plan Made by the author
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Fig.175 Rear elevation. Section 00’. Made by the author Implementation of spaces for homeless people
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Master’s Degree in Advanced Studies in Architecture - Master’s thesis
Fig.176 Rehabilitated and new facades generation. Made by the author
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Fig.177 Front elevation variations. process
Working
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Fig.178 Section of the existing building. Made by the author Implementation of spaces for homeless people
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Fig.179 Section AA’. Made by the author Implementation of spaces for homeless people
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Fig.180 Section BB’. Made by the author Implementation of spaces for homeless people
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Fig.181 Section CC’. Made by the author Implementation of spaces for homeless people
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Fig.182 Section DD’. Made by the author Implementation of spaces for homeless people
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5.2.3 Explanation+Images As shown in the main elevation, the project is framed to the right of “L’antiga casa dels canonges de Santa Anna”, an original 15th-century building protected by the law on the architectural heritage of Catalonia that precedes the church of Santa Anna and is accessed through an opening situated in the right-hand corner of the building with a large door that leads to the Plaçeta de Ramon Amadeu. Extracted from Inventari del Patrimoni Arquitectònic.
With a ground floor plus five floors, the openings follow a regular rhythm
Direcció General del Patrimoni Cultural de la Generalitat de Catalunya.
openings and the spaces between them with motifs such as garlands,
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combining doors with windows, all of which are lintelled. Furthermore, as a distinctive element, the facade is decorated with sgraffiti framing the medallions or plant elements.90 The other adjoining building is of more recent creation, with a nineteenthcentury appearance and a large ground floor with commercial premises and four upper floors in which the rhythm of openings is symmetrical and has a broad formal and material presence, as it links up with the street Portal de l’Angel. As a catalyst of both styles, it has been decided to maintain and restore the current facades, matching the tone of the stucco with which the walls are covered, with slight modifications in the openings and replacement of the carpentry to obtain better energy efficiency, in addition to a homogenization of the whole project without losing the essence of the existing ones. In addition, the first floor of the blocks on which work is being done is unified, adapting to the planned program, presenting a materiality of wood and glass sheets combined in a non-symmetrical way. In the rear elevation the proposal is presented as a body composed of prefabricated sandwich panels of polished concrete in which the openings maintain a constant rhythm in which there are large balcony windows that reach from floor to ceiling and in which, although there is no balcony, the interior space is set back a few centimeters to give them presence, preceded by slatted wooden doors (repeating the model of the first floor on the facade). In addition, despite the classical composition, some of the openings are replaced by a horizontally openwork concrete panel (resembling the
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wooden doors), breaking with the layout of the upper volume. Looking at the AA’ section through the soup kitchen space, it can be seen that it is fully connected to the inner plaza, being a semi-public place belonging to the church that is shown as a safe space in the middle of the city centre for the homeless. Fig.183 Soup kitchen interior design (I) Made by the author
Fig.184 Soup kitchen interior design (II) Made by the author
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In addition, the first floors come into contact with the church itself as they are at present, showing an appropriate façade instead of a rear appearance; however, the upper dwellings that follow the Housing First model are set back in height, giving air space, and thus light, to the church, which is currently embedded among a multitude of buildings. This in turn allows the creation of an inner courtyard for the integral centre for homeless people, following in some way the simile with the cloister of the church, as well as the creation of a terrace on the upper floor for the same purpose as can be seen in sections BB’ and CC’.
Fig.185 Inner courtyard (I) Made by the author
Fig.186 Inner courtyard (II) Made by the author
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It also makes it possible to fully illuminate the lower floors, including the ground floor by means of skylights as shown in section DD’, creating cross ventilation and lighting throughout the project, improving the hygienic conditions and thus the quality of life of the users. As shown in all this planimetry, and as previously highlighted in the explanation of the opening rhythms, the upper floors acquire different configurations typical of a versatile complex capable of adapting to the requirements of the users and not the other way round, as is usually the case
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interspersing functional spaces with other uses according to the
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Garnier, J. 2011. “Del derecho a la vivienda al derecho a la ciudad: ¿De qué derechos hablamos... y con qué derecho?”. P.6
requirements demanded. Under Housing First, housing is provided as a basic human right, not as a
91. Pleace, N. (2016).
reward for sobriety or psychiatric treatment. People do not have to earn
“The Housing First Guide - Europe.”P.7.
housing or prove that they are ready for housing and deserve it, offering users immediate access to housing as a matter of rights: addressing the injustice of poverty, giving the most unfortunate people a chance, and alleviating the immediate suffering of homeless people immediate relief for the homeless.91
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“Housing First” housing bedroom Made by the author
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