Diseño arquitectónico de un Centro de Acogida Comunitario para Adultos Mayores en la parroquia García Moreno, cantón Pelileo

Abstract

Garcia Moreno parish, Pelileo canton, Tungurahua province, records 749 elderly people aged 65 and over 9.23% of its total population facing multidimensional vulnerability: 45.3% live in poverty, most live alone as a consequence of youth migration, and the parish lacks any specialized facility for the care of this group. This situation generates severe social isolation, accelerated physical deterioration and absence of specialized health services within a radius of less than 12 kilometers. For this reason, the research is justified by providing an architectural response to a documented and unmet social need. The absence of specialized infrastructure in García Moreno makes the Community Care Center the first facility of its kind in the Pelileo canton, with its headquarters in the García Moreno parish. The project contributes to the territorial planning of the PDOT (2023), to the objectives of the MIES (2024) for comprehensive elderly care, and to the rights agenda of the Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador. The research adopts a qualitative phenomenological approach. Semi-structured interviews were applied to elderly adults (n=5), the parish GAD representative (n=1), health professionals (n=2) and specialist architects (n=2), complemented by fifteen direct observation sheets in community activities. Information was processed in Atlas.ti 26, identifying six emerging categories. A comparative territorial analysis of ten candidate plots determined plot T8 in Chumaqui as the optimal location for the project implementation. The preliminary design proposes a 2,220 m² Community Reception Center, with capacity for 37 residential places and 30–40 day users, organized on three levels that take advantage of the site's topography. The organizing concept is the U-shaped, biophilic central courtyard, which acts as a passive thermal regulator, a source of natural light, and a space for social interaction. The project integrates universal accessibility, therapeutic architecture, and passive bioclimatic design principles, responding to the needs documented in the fieldwork.