Project: architecture
Program: housing for seniors, community center
Designteam: Harmen van de Wal, Debjani Sarkar, Sonia Sousa, Beverley Walker
Commission: competition
Location: Fieberbrunn, Austria
Design: 2008

A senior citizen’s home is basically a housing collective. It is most known for it’s major disadvantage; collectivity may impede the initiative of the residents. But it also offers advantages, both socially, one meets people with similar life experiences and expectations, and physically; the common areas are large and thereby act generously. With the balance between autonomy of the inhabitants and the benefits of collective housing found, the monumentality of a building is a contribution to the self esteem of those living in it.
The brief states that complex will also be used by the local community. For this reason a division has been made between the actual living area which will be treated as private area and a community center. In the latter all public functions of the senior housing are combined with those of the village. It will be like a countryside palace with houising in the west wing.

A senior citizen’s home is the last station in the dwelling career of many individuals. Inside this institute a similar carreer can be seen, a sliding movement towards more long-term care, with dementia as a possible final stage. The declared aim is to accommodate these various stations under one roof, without having to perform major changes to the appartments. Each appartment is therefore to be reached from two sides. An interiour gallery, allowing the staff a weather free entrance, and an outside gallery, allowing each appartment it’s own adress. Thus they offer the opportunity for individual housing, but also for care and maintenance.

The planning rules restrict the organisation of the building to maximum two floors, which, in combination with the exposed location of the building on the hillside creates a natural monumentality. Horizontally organised as a building block the building is connected to ground floor on one side. As the area slopes down, it is lifted from the hill, hovering above the meadows, supported by a lace-like intertwined set of pillars. The court yard of the building block, clearly marked by the columns, is left open to the countryside.