The Hospital Sant Joan de Déu of Barcelona continues with its project of humanisation of spaces with the help of Rai Pinto Studio and Arauna Studio.

The design and humanisation project of the new vertical communications core of the Hospital de Sant Joan de Déu is part of the project that has been carried out for more than ten years in the hospital under the title: El escondite de los animales (The Animals’ Hideout) led by Rai Pinto Studio and Arauna Studio.

This new building connects vertically, with lifts and stairs, two existing hospital buildings, the maternity ward and the hospitalisation ward. The project consisted of designing six areas of this nucleus, and creating a play area on each floor, a work area for professionals and a third meeting area for patients’ families and health professionals.

Taking advantage of the verticality of the communication system, the highest mountains of each continent were chosen as the guiding theme, thus also reinforcing the international character of the hospital. Each floor is named after a mountain (Puncak Jaya, Elbrus, Kilimanjaro, Denali, Aconcagua and Everest) and the hidden animals are animals native to each area.

In order not to lose natural light, all the walls parallel to the façade are highly transparent, either through the use of translucent glass or louvres. Each area on each floor follows the same layout, but the design has been adapted to the age and needs of the patients who occupy it.

As always, Rai Pinto Studio works to challenge the general perception of what a hospital is by creating spaces that foster connection between users, that are friendly, stimulate the imagination and accompany the hospital stay of patients and families.

Project: Núcleo de comunicaciones vertical en el Hospital Sant Joan de Déu
Location: Esplugues de Llobregat, Barcelona
Finished: 2023
Concept and creative direction: Arauna Studio & Rai Pinto Studio
Space design: Rai Pinto Studio.
Graphic design: Arauna Studio.
Photography: Pol Viladoms.

Rai Pinto Studio

Rai Pinto Studio is a design studio that specialises in transforming conceptual ideas into close spaces, developing a narrative and creating a visual language customised to meet the needs and context of each project, in order to craft a cohesive, aesthetic and humanising experience.
Led by Raimond Pinto Estrada, the studio uses a multidisciplinary design approach to solve the design needs of spaces, and has applied this holistic approach to numerous hospital and healthcare projects over the years, achieving expertise in delivering design solutions for healthcare.
The studio’s projects have been published by international media and awarded by design and art direction institutions.

Raimond Pinto Estrada

Space designer trained at the Escola Eina (Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona) and industrial designer trained at the Escola Massana (UAB). After working for several architecture and interior design studios, he set up his studio in Barcelona, Rai Pinto Studio. His work has been published in various media and has been recognised with awards from international institutions in the field of design and art direction. He has taught at Eina and has been invited to explain his work at other design schools.

Arauna Studio

Arauna is a graphic design studio based in Barcelona, founded in 2014 by Dani Rubio Arauna (Santander, 1986). They understand design as the development of tailor-made ideas for each project, which are materialised in versatile graphic systems that adapt to all kinds of media: visual identities, publications, spaces, campaigns, etcetera. They work from the global idea down to the smallest detail, with special attention to typography. Much of their work explores the ways in which graphic design can behave in architectural spaces and environments.

They have developed projects for institutions and companies of very different sizes and fields: culture, public services, industry, fashion, music, health, among others. They believe in a collaborative way of working, not only with the client, but also with other designers, architects and creatives, depending on each commission.

His work has been internationally recognised with awards such as the Art Directors Club, D&AD or Laus. Dani Rubio Arauna is a member of Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) since 2019.

Fuente: Rai Pinto Studio

Project by Rai Pinto Studio