Description

The year 1991 saw the foundation of an association for restoring and renovating the old Sidi El Houari hospital. The association members were drawn from among health professionals, architects, town planners, students, and local residents. In 1999, without permission, the association took over the premises of the former Sidi El Houari hospital in Oran town centre, which had been allowed to fall into decay. Their purpose was and is to resuscitate the history and heritage of the now run-down district of Sidi El Houari, Oran’s original town centre. They aimed to give its structures back to the local neighbourhood population, who were much in need of them, and to contribute along with other organisations and institutions to restoring life and hope in the quarter.
The association wishes to give Oran youth a vehicle for manifesting their desire to build and to get involved in the restoration and use of this architectural heritage - and of their musical heritage too.

Sante Sidi El Houari’s projects are three in number:
 Opening of a local health centre to provide the local population (around 300,000 inhabitants) with minimum basic health care, including an education and health information centre aimed first and foremost at local youth.
 Founding of a training school for the traditional building crafts.
 A school of traditional music, especially Andalucian music.

The complex will provide an attractive social cultural centre in the neighbourhood as well as for the whole of the urban area.

Former use : hospital
Surface of the site : 5000 m2 of which 3 500 built
Architect of the reconversion : Mr Chiali Abdessamad, research consultancy ARCADE of Tlemcen
Location : city
Foundation year: 1991
Type of occupation : from 1991 to 2001, illegal occupation but the association is allowed to enter the site. In 2001, the prefect (the Wali) allocated to us a payment by banker’s order. A partnership agreement is negociating with the wilaya
Owner of the building : the "domaines publiques"
Practically, no document has been find in order to identify the real owner.

Infrastructures

The hospital : 3 rooms of 160 m2, 1 room of about 250m2 , about twenty rooms between 20 and 30 m2 each, courtyards , 2 gardens (one of them is more than 1000 m2) (today wasteland)
Turkish bath : 1 room about 60 m2. A second square room of 30 m2. Numerous small rooms from 4 to 15 m2
A big terrace and a big courtyard
An annexe : 2 rooms belongs to a school, it was too a part of the hospital.
This both fit out spaces accomodate stocking warehouses of our association.

This multi-purpose spaces can be dedicated to the following functions :

Rehearsal studio, and recording
Concert hall
Cafétéria
Venue
Workshops
Offices
Multimedia
Cybercafé
Exterior space
Conference room
Exhibition room
Labo photo
Associative space
Resources centre

Social and artistic disciplines

Traditional music above all arabo andalousian
Theatre
Visual arts
Multimedias
Professional training
Workshops
Education & arts for handicapped person
Activities for children
Books editing
Artistic education