This new Community Primary Care Centre will bring together under one roof, treatment, care and information services to the Killaloe and Ballina area. Primary care is an approach to care that includes a range of services designed to keep people well. It ranges from promotion of health and screening for disease to assessment, diagnosis, treatment and rehabilitation as well as personal social services. The services provide first-level contact that is fully accessible by self-referral and have a strong emphasis on working with communities and individuals to improve their health and social well-being. Primary Care Services need to be accessible to patients locally. The centre will serve the population of Killaloe, Ballina and adjoining areas.
The aim is to create a consistently high quality health and social care service that everyone can access easily. This is by focusing on providing services as a single integrated system centered around on individuals, families, communities and the health of the population as a whole. The approach to the design is to meet and consistently exceed current building standards and guidelines. Rooms are to the outside for daylight, ventilation and views. To achieve the requirements of the brief and to best suit the shape and orientation of the site, we have designed the layout with a single main entrance with shared central atrium.
All functions are arranged around and access from this central “hub”, which extends to 1st Floor for visual connectivity and ease of understanding of patients and visitors of the building layout. The design is based on a simple linear double wing building for the Primary Health Centre component, with an “annexe” compromising the Pharmacy and Additional Healthcare accommodation. The main body of the building is a mixture of single and two storey with a double pitch roof over the upper floor area. The “annexe” is designed to feel different in shape to the PHC element and is pulled away from the PHC with a short link corridor. It is flat roofed and facilitates the Plant areas over.
We feel our design is an appropriate scale and aesthetic as to be recognisable as being a public building but also fit considerately into the surrounding environment. The double pitch roof and coloured render are recognisable architectural vernacular of the town and region. We have been mindful of this precedence while also bringing an unashamedly modern feel to the facades.
