Residential care center
living from within
landscape as a guiding principle
a village in a building
a building in a village
Flexibility and (social) sustainability are paramount.
…Starting from the resident, using the landscape as a guide, and arriving at a a village within a village.
On the scale of the village:
Using the landscape as a connecting element, thus co-integrating the site and bringing it closer to the village of Bertem.
On the scale of the landscape:
A succession of greenery that forms the connection between the different buildings and in which residents participate in different activities. A versatile building.
On the scale of the room:
Life in the room is central. The resident with his customs and habits dominates. The architecture gives every opportunity to this.
We always want to start from the resident. The resident and the care provider, their programme is our starting point.
We seek and initiate encounters, life comes back into focus, a design away from rigidity and uniformity, towards a design that radiates a human, fine-grained scale.
Seven pillars at the basis: the resident – the room – the house – the hamlet – the care site – the landscape – bertem.
The sequence of thinking and designing.
The result a chain of connected conclaves of houses, meeting places and outdoor spaces that interact with each other, form a village within the village and as a whole also respond to the landscape and the existing surrounding buildings.