Joaquin Torres designed a kindergarten on the roof of the Hospital universitario La Paz promoted by Juegaterapia.

-A kindergarten which will take place thanks to the funds that get raise the Juegaterapia NGO

-the project aims opening at the end of summer

Madrid, may 2012.- the a-cero architecture Studio has designed free of charge, on one of the roofs of the University Hospital La Paz, a space of encounter and game for children hospitalized in the health centre. It is a kindergarten to be carried out thanks to the funds that get raise the Juegaterapia NGOs and that it could be in operation by the end of the summer.

a-cero Studio has sought to create a leisure space where children hospitalized for long periods of time can enjoy the outdoors in a setting that evokes nature. The aim is to make more pleasant the stay of the child and his family in the hospital, and to contribute to a better recovery.

In the words of the architect Joaquín Torres: this is one of the most special projects and with more love has carried out the a-cero architecture Studio. You want to with it, bring the environment, education and the vegetation to the children who are admitted. It’s creating for them a green underworld ” in the hospital as a place of recreation, thus favouring the occupation of his free time in a natural environment that brings them freedom that lack, to the stay in the Centre admitted during both time. ”

according to Dr. Javier Cobas, Deputy Manager of the Hospital Universitario La Paz, the idea of this project was born when we tried to recover the original Aviary ” hospital which had in its origins and is that, since the creation of the children’s Hospital in 1965, its professionals have always had a special sensitivity to the rights and life situation of children. Ours has been pioneer in the establishment of a Plan of humanization which has a Center intended to ensure that the child, for the time that is with us, is as at home and hospital admission not broken with his private life, his friends or classes ”.

Other companies who have collaborated in giving material are: Pixel XL and biotechnical.

Description of the project

The roof of the hospital will be structured through a series of circular elements that function as different areas of play and be formally related to a road that runs through the cover creating an itinerary that invites to enter and explore the entire space. The cover will be upholstered in artificial turf, where are the trees planted in large pots, as well as a vinyl covering one of the facades looking for transmit the feeling of contact with nature. There are different elements that make up the cover:

-A great circle thought of as playground for the more small

-planters with trees: as a bank to sit down in the shade of the trees.

-Pérgola-mesa: covered circular tables designed for games of table, space for reading, drawing or painting.

-area sports: area paved with material for the practice of sport.

-mosaic Pixel XL: with magnetic pieces that allow you to be moved, thus changing the decoration and serving to play.

-balls of light, which in addition to its daytime decorative effect, give light at night.

To the terrace of hospitalization, is proposed the installation of planters to create a therapeutic garden related senses. It’s different thematic areas where the vegetation is intimately related to each direction. Thus, in the garden of the smell, include various species of aromatic plants; the garden view is starring very colorful plants; the garden of taste will have fruit plants; the touch with different textures and the ear, those emitting sounds with the movement of the wind. A zone is also designed to enable children to grow their own plants and observe how they are born, grow and become flowers, to incorporate this space to the therapeutic process and contribute to improve the mood of patients.

About a-cero

A-cero, study of architecture and town planning created by Joaquin Torres and Rafael Llamazares in 1996 whose activity focuses on the comprehensive development of architectural projects. A-cero is divided into three parts: the first, the study of architecture, with a way of working very personal which is based on a concept that will be the common thread of the idea staying throughout the process, part of a sculptural value and it is transformed in architecture. The Studio specializes in turn into two areas: residential and non-residential projects. The second, a-cero Tech, based on the principles of industrialized construction and popularized the design without sacrificing quality; the third would be a-cero In conceiving the interior design and landscaping as a continuation of architecture and materialized in the showroom of the center of Madrid (c / Castello, 66). Recently introduced its libro-catálogo live in the architecture. A-cero: Joaquín Torres and Rafael Llamazares ”.

what is Juegaterapia?

an association non-profit that works every day to ensure that all children with cancer, only think of one thing; play! Assure the entertainment during the hospital stay, through the donation of consoles and videogames, humanization and animation of hospital stays and the concern for the family environments, are the 3 axes of Juegaterapia activity. “More than 360 consoles and 1,000 games, delivered in hospitals of all Spain and support studies and research that support the positive effects of the”virtual therapy”in the sick children, turn their work into a reality with huge projection”.