Āśvāsam - Palliative & dialysis community clinic
Description
The site is in the rolling hills of the midlands of Kerala, a state on the south western coast of India. The chosen site is in a small rural village of Chellakkappady which only has a population of around 1500 people. The main purpose of the Palliative and Dialysis community centre is to improve and aid medical access to the ageing population of Kerala especially around the rural midlands of Central Kerala.
The programme has been researched and developed with help from a small group of doctors who serve the local populace and doctors from the Indian Association of Palliative Care. The focus of the programme is to create a working community health clinic and palliative care centre, where one may choose to receive palliative care or even spend the last days of their life.
The building is designed to best suit the local climate characterized by heavy monsoonal rain and harsh intervening sunlight. It draws design inspiration from the vernacular architecture of the region, the local building culture and the works of pioneering monsoon modernists such as Geoffrey Bawa and Laurie Baker