Professor’s firm designs a new health center for Charlotte’s Latino community

The Architect’s Newspaper reviews the design of the Camino health center by architecture professor Marc Manack’s firm, SILO.

Across the United States, migration continues to reshape the social and physical landscape. In recent years, states across the country have seen some of the sharpest demographic shifts, with Latino populations growing faster in the South than any other part of the country. North Carolina is home to 1.1 million Hispanic residents, up from fewer than 100,000 in 1990. In Charlotte, an institution called Camino has risen to address the needs of the city’s growing Latino population. 

It includes a recent renovation of Camino Salud, a 6,250-square-foot health clinic designed by SILO, opened recently on the Camino campus in east Charlotte. The $2,150,000 construction transformed the facility into a hub for receiving bilingual medical and dental care. The project reflects both the demographic transformation of the region and community networks that have grown in response. Its mission serves the underserved and those without health insurance.

Before the renovation, the clinic occupied a former industrial structure that had been altered through years of construction. The interior was fragmented, dimly lit, and difficult to navigate. SILO, led by architect and UNC Charlotte professor Marc Manack, worked to transform the unitarian shell into a space that feels warm, welcoming, and distinctly of its community.

Read the full story by  Ilana Amselem in The Architect’s Newspaper. Photo by Keith Isaacs.