Africa Design Competition - Nightingale Associates

The Triple Embrace HPLC is interpreted as three interconnected spatial concepts

• Hand (arrival, business exchange and social interaction)
• Mind (learning, knowledge-sharing and training)
• Heart (care, private retreat and reflection)

The ‘Hand’ function sees local entrepreneurs given opportunities to develop creative business ideas as a sustainable foundation for development. Job skills training and income generation programmes would be part of the HPLC’s remit.

‘Mind’ learning space increases selfawareness of healthy lifestyle routines and is the cornerstone of preventative care. Suggested uses include programmes directly related to health – parenting, personal hygiene and diet – as well as indirect uses such as computer or language skills.

The concepts of 'mind', 'heart' and 'hand' define activity spaces

The ‘Heart’ environment is restorative, offering individuals experiencing stress a break from routine as well as effective health screening and assessment. It is envisioned as a place for screening and testing (cholesterol, blood pressure, eye tests) as well as physical activity (swimming, yoga and other sports, plus music and drama).

The educational remit of the HPLC goes further than traditional ideas of health promotion: Nightingale Associates sees the local community’s participation in creating and building the centre as a learning opportunity in its own right.

Accordingly it proposes a participatory design process to define and develop ideas, through a series of workshops with local people. This will make the outcome more relevant to its users, and establish a strong sense of ownership from the beginning.

The HPLC uses a courtyard design typology to provide a sense of safety, shelter and retreat

The HPLC uses a courtyard design typology – a style of building that inherently provides a feeling of safety, shelter, retreat and focus. The ‘Hand’ entrepreneurial space would take place in an outer courtyard, with ‘Heart’ health assessment and recreational facilities in an inner courtyard, and ‘Mind’ educational space on the threshold between the two. This sequence of spaces remains the same, regardless of the building’s setting (rural, urban or township) but would be configured to suit local requirements, as drawn out by the community consultation.

This allows for a different focus according to where need is greatest. Transport is seen as a key facilitator in the development of the HPLC, with rural, urban and township centres connected together to allow the learning that has taken place regionally to be disseminated.

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What the judges said
"Highly commended for the creative conceptual design of a HPLC with three interconnected spaces based on a hand, mind and heart concept that defines a blended mix of medical, business, social, sports, learning and knowledge-based activities that supports opportunities for the local community to lead and enjoy healthy lifestyles in rural, urban and township settings."