Rethinking the spaces of the Sant Joan de Déu homeless centre, Valencia
Participatory process and preliminary project

Rethinking Sant Joan de Déu involves a process of collective reflection on the spaces of the SJD centre for the homeless in Valencia. It involved working alongside the employees and users of the centre to detect their specific needs and then draw up proposals for improving their experience of the various spaces.

This spatial diagnosis was complemented by surveys, interviews and workshops aimed at deepening our knowledge of the user/employee experience, so as to pinpoint the key aspects we would need to keep in mind. The results of our preliminary investigations showed a clear need to create a welcoming space which facilitated coexistence and incorporated natural elements. Inspired by the concepts of neuroarchitecture, our proposal stayed close to these defining principles and was organised around four main ideas:

Greenery as key to the centre’s image
The hall as central space
Offices becoming polyvalent open spaces
Quiet areas inviting sharing and companionship

The project proposed to reduce the excessive division of the ground floor owing to the existing layout of offices, replacing this with a more open-plan layout which upholds environmental quality criteria, promoting the circulation of natural light and eliminating dark and unused areas. An inviting design which promotes the coexistence of its beneficiaries.

In terms of materials, we opted for natural elements in light tones to promote a feeling of comfort, warmth and relaxation. Vegetation gives the centre a sense of identity, and, ultimately, provides a potential route to reinsertion in the labour market for its users, in the form of gardening workshops on the care and maintenance of these elements.

In this way, we hope to put architecture at the service of its end-users, improving the centre’s capacity to help those in need via both the experience of the centre itself and the generation of new job opportunities.