The A Merca Health Center

Spain

Located on a triangular plot with challenging topography but privileged views of the Galician forest and distant mountains, the A Merca Health Center responds with precision and sensitivity to the demands of a medium-scale healthcare program. Designed by IDOM, the project is rooted in a deep understanding of the site, integrating architecture and landscape in a harmonious and respectful dialogue.

The building is strategically positioned in the widest part of the plot, close to the forest, echoing the implantation strategies of traditional Galician architecture. This approach allows for the creation of rich transitional spaces between the built environment and nature. The access sequence, a gentle ramp flanked by stone walls and olive trees, introduces visitors to a setting that already announces the building’s intimate relationship with its surroundings.

Each room is articulated through distinct volumes in both plan and section, enabling a clear organization of the program and a spatial richness that enhances the user experience. Natural light plays a fundamental role in shaping the character of the interiors: consultation rooms open onto a garden that seems to slide across the doctor’s desk, while waiting areas are animated by views of the forest and the sky reflected in a ground-level water mirror.

The meeting point between doctor and patient is illuminated by a skylight, offering glimpses of the treetops and the sky above. This gesture transcends functionality, transforming the encounter into a moment of contemplation. Stone, tree, and water—archetypal symbols of the Galician forest—are integrated into an architecture that seeks to recover the deeper meaning of inhabiting.

The A Merca health center is conceived as a threshold of the everyday, a frame through which nature is observed and a mirror in which the human presence is reflected. It is a place where architecture dissolves into the landscape, allowing the built matter to fade in favor of an environment that welcomes, accompanies, and heals. The project reaffirms the value of architecture as a mediator between people and place, between routine and beauty, between care and contemplation.

Architectural design : Architecture : Health