As part of SCF Arquitectos’ commitment to higher education, and in celebration of their 40 Year Anniversary, SCF sponsored a semester-long design competition. Thirty-six students enrolled in their 3rd year of architecture studies participated in the competition.
The theme for the competition was an Urban Wellness Center, located in Hato Rey, between an Urban Train Station, Hato Rey Judicial Center, and the new Veterans Domiciliary building. Wellness Centers are facilities that house healthcare professionals such as life coaches, nutritionists, and alternative medicine specialists who provide a holistic approach to medicine, focusing on both, the body and the mind.
The competition’s design objectives included exploring and developing architectural concepts that incorporated biophilic design elements, which increase people’s connectivity to the natural environment with the goal of improving their wellness, thus resulting in a better quality of life.
Throught the semester, architects from SCF Arquitectos visited the UPR’s architecture studios and provided feedback to the students’ design proposals. The winners were selected during the final presentation, held on December 11, at the University of Puerto Rico, School of Architecture.
By Carmen Rita Fortuño, AIA
