Wearing a reflective vest and a safety helmet that bears his name, Roberto Barandela walks between cement pillars several meters underground. Higher up he can see the street and much further away the winter sun of Madrid. Surrounded by beams, dust and warning signs, the architect who directs the work on October 12 warns: “This is outrageous, in just four months we have excavated 22,000 cubic meters of concrete”, an amount similar to that used to raise the Agbar Tower in Barcelona. The pace is frenetic. The Madrid hospital, directed by Carmen Martínez de Pancorbo, builds nearly 1,200 square meters of surface every day. It is not for less. The objective is to have the new hospitalization building ready before December 31, 2023, an essential requirement for the financing of the European Union, endowed with 227 million euros, to become effective. “It’s a race against the clock,” acknowledges the director.
The old building of the General Residence, a symbol of the hospital for nearly half a century, will be demolished when the construction of its successor is finished. In the management team they admit that “it’s a bit sad”, but that the improvements are so evident that there is no possible room for nostalgia. Ana Cabrero, deputy director of technical management, celebrates with some relief the growth of the most important areas of the center: “The largest operating room we have right now is 30 square meters, while the smallest of the new hospital will have 50″. This breadth will allow, for example, the introduction of special robots in operating rooms, something unthinkable in today’s architecture.
To arrive on time, more than a thousand operators work in the 133,000 square meters that have made October 12 one of the two largest civil works in Spain. The other is the Santiago Bernabéu stadium, also in the capital. José Nieves, project management director, eyes light up as he looks at the recently completed foundations of the new building and reminisces about times gone by. “I’ve been working here for 35 years and the feeling is that this happens once in a lifetime,” he says.
All those involved have the date marked on the calendar. Even more so at the construction site, where every day without rain is appreciated as a giant step towards the goal. Pedro Gallego, director of hospital works at Sacyr – the company awarded the project – jokes about the climate that has prevailed in the capital in recent weeks: “Water is not a friend of construction: trucks slip, concrete takes longer to dry … This sun seems to be tailor-made!”
During his visit to the underground area, to which EL PAÍS has had access, Martínez de Pancorbo acts as a teacher and puts those responsible for the work to the test to demonstrate the general communion regarding the dates set. They all answer correctly without hesitation: “October 2023!” Gallego warns between laughs that if they put on, they could have it sooner than expected. In a relaxed atmosphere, the director does not take long to get into the act: “Don’t tell me twice, I’ll take your word for it.”
The reality is that there is still a lot of work to be done, but the deadlines are being met. In October of next year, the facade of the new hospital will be ready and the move from the current building will begin. The entire move will have to be done in just four months. The director points out that the inventory is running out and refutes one of the criticisms perpetrated on October 12: “Not everything here is old, as they say around there. We have a lot of material and technology acquired a few months ago”.
Once the move is complete, the tower-like structure of the General Residence will be demolished. Everything will be done in the new building, which will have ten floors less and will gain width horizontally. The new center will have a maximum capacity of 1,450 hospitalization beds, 114 ICU beds, 60 beds for neonates and 41 operating rooms. In addition, it will meet the requirements of respect for the environment demanded by the European Union to grant the funds, by producing photovoltaic energy: 480,000 kW/h per year.
The management team also intends to tackle one of the main problems of current architecture: patient orientation. José Nieves does not want people to arrive and not know where to go, as is currently the case: “That will change radically.” With all the improvements, Martínez de Pancorbo is sure that on October 12 it will be the reference health center in the Community of Madrid: “A modern and completely renovated hospital, on a par with the best in the world”.
Several meters below ground, Barandela smiles calmly. He trusts the work of his team to achieve this purpose. The 7,000 hospital workers, too. “That all this is going to be done in 26 months is a milestone,” says the architect. It is not for less, 227 million euros are at stake and the director of the center is aware of what this entails: “The granting of European aid aroused much envy, but we were prepared for this project”. In what will be the basement of the new hospital in a few months, the architect and director agree on the importance of finishing the works on time: “It’s a lot of money and everyone is watching us”.
A project in record time
After the foundation phase, which began on August 16, the October 12 Hospital now begins a 20-month race to complete the works on time. The first exam is coming soon, since on March 1 several emissaries from the European Union will travel to Madrid to audit the project. Afterwards, the express construction of the new building will go through several stages. In June, the basement, which is still covered by dust and the boots of the workers, will begin to look like a hospital warehouse. After the summer, the plan is for the building structure to be complete and work to begin on the upper floors (fourth through ninth). At the beginning of 2023, the facade should be finished. The director of the center, Carmen Martínez de Pancorbo, explains that it will be then when the workers start to work only inside the building. In the fall of 2023, all the healthcare technology will be added and the new hospital will be ready to start moving. When the move is complete, the old General Residence, which will be 50 years old by then, will be demolished and the October 12 Hospital will have changed its appearance in record time.
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