Porto, Portugal
The ICU – Petro-Hispano Hospital by Manuel Ventura of Ventura + Partners for Unidade Local de Saúde de Matosinhos is more than an architectural project, but is a message of hope through collaboration and ingenuity.
The pioneer and prototypical project has recently been awarded a 2022 International Architecture Awards Honorable Mention by The Chicago Athenaeum: Museum of Architecture and Design and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
In response to the rampant growth of the Covid-19 pandemic, it became urgent to formulate an emergency project that increased the number of rooms under negative pressure in Pedro Hispano Hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU).
Intensive care was gradually occupying spaces such as post-anesthesia care units, recoveries spaces, and operating theaters, interfering with the public hospital’s usual functioning.
This extension doubles the number of ICU beds, reinforcing the hospital’s response capacity against the pandemic.
Furthermore, being a long-term vision project, it translates into a new attribute for the hospital’s regular service.
The new ICU wing includes 11 individual negative pressure rooms, equipped with antechambers that control the airflow and the pressure between the room and the shared space of the new unit.
The physical continuity of this structure with the existing ICU, through a connecting corridor, ensured efficiency gains in managing processes and human resources.
The willingness to be part of the solution at a difficult time was the engine for the development of this philanthropic project, which was finished in just one week.
The briefing asked for a realistic, economic, and rapidly built project that would represent a valuable contribution for the ICU professionals and users.
Thus, the unit was created through a model of continuous collaboration between architects and the ICU team—to ensure total adaptation to patients’ and healthcare professionals’ needs—all built in just 25 working days.
The construction system guarantees the project’s ecology and sustainability, based on a low generation of waste, a high thermal and energetic performance, and an 80% reduction in CO2 emissions.
Brightness, fluidity, and tranquility are combined in a unit designed to be functional and efficient, but where aesthetics are not overlooked. The volume establishes symbiotic relationships with the surrounding buildings on the exterior, seeking a harmonious articulation between Art and Science.
The drawings by Manuela Oliveira, a retired Visual Arts teacher, coexist with a Latin phrase by Pedro Hispano, a 13th-century doctor, meaning “Medicine aims to conserve the health and to recover the lost health by eliminating the disease.”
As a pioneer project in Portugal, this expansion project presents a high level of replicability.
In a time of uncertainty and fear, the collaboration between public and private entities and the teamwork of more than 300 people—including architects, designers, engineers, technicians, and construction workers—sends a message of hope.
Project: ICU – Pedro-Hispano Hospital
Architects: Ventura + Partners
Lead Architect: Manuel Ventura
General Contractor: Gondor, Engenharia e Construção
Client: Unidade Local de Saúde de Matosinhos
Photographers: António Teixeira
