FACULTY OF MEDICINE OF LAAYOUNE
MASTERPLAN:
The project unfolds around a large esplanade at the northern corner of the site, which allows for a vast open space to welcome the students who will arrive in large numbers every day.
The location of this esplanade/garden to the north of the project is a major asset: it is shielded from both the morning and afternoon sun by the surrounding built masses. As such, this esplanade will serve as the vibrant heart of the faculty, a meeting point that connects all the elements of the project, ensuring its smooth flow.
The design of this esplanade introduces the vegetative element in a solemn way, offering shade and fresh air to users. Planted with local species, the project seeks to create a place of quality and a microclimate reminiscent of the oases of southern Morocco.
The overall concept of the project's organization is structured around defined public/common spaces, with interior/exterior spaces inspired by the oases of southern Morocco, providing shade and freshness for users.
Thus, beyond the welcoming garden around which the main hall unfolds, a second large garden nestles in the shade of the teaching and research hub: it acts as the "central square", from which all circulation routes radiate, leading to the various entities of the hub.
These spaces of exchange also reference the public places of the city: esplanade, walkway, square, and plaza, creating urban threads that emphasize the urban, structured nature of the site and facilitate the ease of navigation and orientation for visitors. Every circulation axis offers an escape, presenting views that enrich the journey and provide engaging perspectives for users.
OPERATIONAL FUNCTION:
The architectural approach aims to strike a balance between functional logic and the organization of volumes, creating differentiated spaces based on their use (administrative, educational, etc.) and their users (students, professors/researchers, administrative staff, guests, etc.).
Thus, following a logic that responds to the imperatives of proximity, communication, optimization, and flow, the project is divided into three zones housing the main hubs:
1. The first hub, dedicated to "administrative offices/library/training and defense center, is located along the project façade, facing the 50-meter road and pedestrian pathways. It is situated close to the reception and exhibition hall, connected by a sheltered circulation path, protecting visitors from the elements. These entities, visually connected to the hall, form a single emblematic structure that is welcoming, public-facing, and easily identifiable, as it hosts both external guests and students as well as professors and researchers.
Although physically connected, each of these entities maintains its functional independence, with separate entrances to avoid interfering with the functioning of other spaces during educational events, exhibitions, or defenses.
2. The second hub houses theoretical and practical teaching spaces, the research center, and other necessary facilities. It is centrally located within the project and benefits from both pedestrian and vehicle access, reserved for students and the teaching and research staff, and is located near parking areas along the 30-meter road. The teaching department (professor's offices) interfaces between the research center and administrative offices.
3. The third hub, containing social and sports facilities, is positioned at the back of the site, away from the teaching areas, to minimize any acoustic interference during class sessions.
ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION:
The project is driven by the desire to design a building of high environmental quality, with architecture that embodies this ambition while being fully integrated into the urban context of Laayoune and its surroundings.
The primary concern is to reduce solar exposure and minimize energy consumption. This intention is reflected first in the building orientation, favoring the northeast and northwest sides for teaching spaces, as well as in various architectural responses depending on the use. This does not compromise the harmony of the design, as the architecture is expressed in a simple, clean, and refined language inspired by the local context.
For the emblematic buildings facing the welcoming esplanade, a second skin is designed, drawing from traditional architecture. This envelope serves a dual role: providing architectural identity to the project while mitigating the morning and afternoon sun without blocking natural light, which is essential for user comfort and energy savings.
Around the welcoming garden, pedestrian pathways are shielded from the elements and midday sun by this second skin, suspended above the walkways.
The architecture of the other buildings is marked by sophisticated sobriety, with geometric volumes that interact with light, enhanced by the ochre color of the walls, harmonizing with the neighboring School of Technology. These simple volumes are bordered by architecturally detailed facades, maintaining a continuous, harmonious design.
The northeast and northwest openings are generously sized but protected by their deep placement, aligned in a regular rhythm that also addresses the need for modularity. The southeast and southwest-facing openings create vertical slits, highlighting the facades of the different entities, giving them unity while ensuring the richness of the architecture and the user’s journey.
The silhouette of the project stands boldly in the space, forming a monument to its symbolic significance, enhancing the urban landscape. Our goal is to create an emblematic building that embodies authenticity and architectural inspiration drawn from our heritage, while introducing a modern, contemporary touch reflective of our times.
In homage to traditional architecture, we’ve incorporated local materials such as Travertine marble / Volubilis, crowned with geometric patterns inspired by the KSOUR of southern Morocco, as well as perforated panels reminiscent of "mashrabiyas". The patterns from the "tatouai" (tattoo) culture adorn the façade, imbuing the project with its southern-inspired identity.
From the interior, users experience pleasant ambiances, diffused natural light, and a spectacular interplay of shadows and light on the facades throughout the day.
At night, this effect is reversed, and the spectacular interplay is perceived from the outside: the façade constantly shifts as light escapes through the patterns, emanating from illuminated spaces, reflecting the rhythms of the activities taking place within the faculty.
Part of the architectural concept, a vast esplanade extends at the foot of the reception and exhibition hall, warmly welcoming all users of the faculty. Visitors to the Faculty of Medicine are greeted in an open, easily navigable space, where orientation is straightforward. From the moment they enter, students, faculty, and researchers are immersed in a rich journey through plant-filled spaces and architectural events, with visual openings toward the end of the site.
The overall atmosphere of the project is enhanced by color, transforming the space according to the sun and the seasons. The ochre color of the walls contrasts with Laayoune's blue sky and the greenery of the garden/oasis sheltered under the shadows of the built masses.
The Travertine marble walls lend the project a distinct charm, thanks to their varied textures and rich undulating lines in a range of earthy tones.
The project engages in a subtle dialogue with its environment, reflected in its scale, proportions, rhythms, and its powerful yet measured architecture, which is both sober and rich.
The different entities of the faculty are characterized by an architectural expression that makes them easily identifiable, while ensuring the richness of the architecture and the journey. However, the overall cohesion is guaranteed by the treatment of the façades and the architectural language used, which emphasizes simplicity, the purification of volumes, and geometric harmony.
Emblematic, the large hall becomes the heart of the project, developing monumentally with a high ceiling that gives it great presence. The outdoor garden is invited in, and only a thin glass partition marks a boundary that is primarily climatic in nature.
Open, bathed in diffused natural light, the hall is not only a passage space where occasional cultural events are held but also a vibrant, living space, naturally animated by the flow of exhibitions, conferences, and meetings, thanks to the physical and visual connections it maintains with other parts of the faculty: administration, library, training center. This welcoming space can be easily isolated when necessary without disrupting the functioning of the faculty.
The library hovers over a cleared ground floor, and a theatrical staircase unfolds at its base, offering students shaded seating like steps where they can sit and read in a relaxed atmosphere, blending interior and exterior. Around the staircase, benches inspired by sand dunes also provide the opportunity to read in the shadow of the building in peaceful serenity.