FACILITY UPGRADES
CRISTHIAN DI DIONISIO – MEDICAL PLANNER AND HEALTHCARE ARCHITECT; ANTONIO VARTAN NAKASCHIAN PLAZAOLA – HOSPITAL ARCHITECT AND URBAN PLANNER, DD&N ARCHITECTS, ARGENTINA
Between memory and the future: a masterplan
Medical planner and healthcare architect Cristhian Di Dionisio, and hospital architect and urban planner Antonio Vartan Nakaschian Plazaola, founders of Argentinian hospital architects DD&N, discuss the transformation of the Sanatorio Adventista del Plata Hospital in Libertador San Martín.
In the Argentinian city of Libertador San Martín, nestled among centennial trees and the soft sounds of the Mesopotamian plateau, stands the Sanatorio Adventista del Plata. It is not just a hospital. It is a symbol. A narrative built over 115 years through stories of care, science, and faith. Its walls have heard the heartbeat
of newborns and the silence of final breaths. They have witnessed the anxiety of emergencies and the hope of healing. But like any aging organism without strategic guidance, the hospital has also suffered: structures added without cohesion, overlapping circulation paths, scattered services, and technologies rendered obsolete by time. This is the story of a transformation.
Of how a centennial hospital chose not to remain anchored in its glorious past, but to step forward into the future with
dignity. Of how it is possible to plan change without denying memory. It is also the testimony of an
architecture that does not only build space, but meaning. And of a community that dares to reinvent its way of caring.
Diagnosis – listening before designing Every healing begins with a good diagnosis. And in this case, it was not enough to measure surfaces or check blueprints. It was necessary to listen. For over six months, an
interdisciplinary team walked every corner of the hospital. More than 24,000 m2
of
built area were analysed; installations were assessed, and local and international regulations (PGNCAM, ASHRAE, NFPA) were reviewed. Logistical flows were mapped, and occupancy patterns studied. But at the heart of this diagnosis was the human perspective: participatory
Cristhian Di Dionisio
Cristhian Di Dionisio is a medical planner and architect healthcare with over 18 years of experience in project management for healthcare, public, and private sector
architecture. He has worked on multiple large-scale healthcare projects across Argentina and Latin America, focusing on strategic infrastructure planning and medical facility optimisation. He holds a Master’s degree in Planning of the
Physical Resource in Health from Buenos Aires University and has completed leadership studies at MIT.
Antonio Vartan Nakaschian Plazaola
Antonio Vartan Nakaschian Plazaola is a hospital architect and urban planner with extensive expertise in planning, designing, and coordinating multidisciplinary teams for healthcare
infrastructure projects. He has led significant hospital expansion and modernisation projects in Argentina and Spain, integrating advanced medical technologies into healthcare facilities. He
holds a Master’s degree in Hospital Architecture and Management from Universidad Católica de Murcia and has specialised training in hospital facilities from the University of Barcelona.
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The challenge was clear: to integrate without erasing
workshops with doctors, nurses, technicians, administrators, patients, companions, and volunteers. What was found was a noble but
strained system. A building that had grown out of necessity, not by design. That had added wings, floors, and pavilions like someone patching a blanket in winter. Circulations were mixed: patients, supplies, waste, and staff shared corridors. Critical areas were far apart. Vertical connections did not distinguish between clinical and technical uses. Logistic services interfered with patient privacy and safety. Physically, the hospital was a sum of
fragments. Functionally, it was dispersed. Symbolically, however, it remained the heart of the city. The challenge was clear: to integrate without erasing, to organise without standardising, and to modernise without dehumanising.
The generative idea – a seam that reinforces unity Faced with this complexity, the Masterplan proposed a simple yet powerful idea: a technical circulation spine that sews together the fragments, organises flows, and restores a spatial logic to the hospital. This longitudinal ‘seam’ organises the
site into functional strips: public, technical, and future expansion zones. It allows new and existing elements to interact without friction. No unnecessary demolitions – just re-significations. The old circular building becomes a day hospital.
IFHE DIGEST 2026
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