XAVEER DE GEYTER ARCHITECTS

This care campus for the elderly is situated within the ancient walls of a former convent. The site is a unique green peaceful place in a dense urban fabric of mainly housing.

The project consists of two independent buildings, one a 1 care centre for 120 residents with a day centre for 15 people and the other contains 45 service flats. The two buildings stand on top of a common underground parking.

The care centre is a freestanding building in the park, becoming part of the group of independent buildings inside the ancient walls of the monastery; the boomerang-shaped plan of the building allows the landscape to run continuously around the building. The ground floor houses the day care centre and the general functions of the nursing home: reception, management, cafeteria, hairdresser, physiotherapy room and occupational therapy. The four floors on top host each 30 rooms, forming two 1 groups. The residents’ rooms are situated on one side of the boomerang while the open living areas, focusing on the park, are on the other side. The rooms open directly onto the living room, eliminating long corridors. The atmosphere is homely and the residents can enjoy a panoramic view towards the park. Outside, the mirrored facade reflects the green of the old monastery garden.

The service flats complex both completes the existing city block and inscribes itself into the logic of the freestanding buildings in the convent garden. It has four floors of flats that are optimally oriented.

Open galleries organise the horizontal circulation of the complex. The apartments have an open plan around a central core containing the bathroom, a kitchen, and storage and can be flexibly divided with semi-transparent sliding walls. They have an indoor terrace that can be closed in winter and can be used as extra interior space.

source: Office web