VISION

The Residence and Social Service Centre De Meers is a project of the OCMW Waregem. It wants to provide accommodation to elderly people, regardless of their philosophical, ethical, cultural or political views, or their financial situation.

De Meers is a home to healthy senior citizens as well as to elderly people in need of care. It is a place where they can live and receive care at the end of their lives. At all times, the staff will be stand-by to provide help to each of the residents.

De Meers also wants to be a home to younger people in need of care. They will find relief and medical support within the boundaries of the medical, nursing and psycho-social assignment of a rest home and care centre.

The OCMW has tried to create a concentration of four institutes, each of which had been functioning autonomously for a long time, operating each with a specific vision and providing specific care to its residents. Merging these rather different care profiles into one project with a common vision and goal was part of the assignment.

One of the goals of the Flanders’ Structure Plan was to stimulate an efficient usage of the urban inner space. In the De Meers project the urban space was tripled by using vertical and more compact volumes, in which the viability of this concentration was assured by its creative design.

COMPETITION

In 1996 the OCMW Waregem organised a competition aimed at gathering ideas for the future development of its properties on the edge of the city.

At stake was the design of a master plan that would reflect a clear vision on the evolution of the housing services and other services offered by the OCMW.
Concentration and rationalisation were to be the keywords in this master plan. Moreover, the new design would have to correspond with the special zoning plan for the city centre of Waregem and the plans of the inter-municipal association Leiedal.

Eight entries were assessed. The design of LLOX (Luyten & Lens) was the winning master plan, combining a successful approach of the urban development guidelines with a concentrated constellation of the housing units. 

URBAN DEVELOPMENT

LLOX (Luyten & Lens) opted for an integration of the existing 5-levelled structure in line with the urban density.
By subtly manipulating the environment and by creating walking paths throughout the site, a link with the urban fabric was established. A new wing for the rest home and a volume with service flats were built as an expansion of the existing structure.
The accuracy with which these new constructions were inserted and the high density of the volumes provided for further developments in a later phase.
Semi-public and public walking trails in and around the building at the same time create a relation with the environment and introduced some variation in the concentration of volumes. From a three-dimensional perspective, this web of walking trails creates gaps and interruptions in the volumes. It also served to emphasize the small scale of this development, which is further underpinned by cutting out volumes and using several facade materials.

On the first floor the atmosphere zone was ‘publicly’ concentrated. The protected outside world, where interaction with the environment is optimal. The public walking trail ends in all the subspaces of this atmospheric zone. The ‘living’ and ‘intimate’ atmospheres are distributed among the four remaining floors. The spaces for elderly people who are suffering from dementia are located on the ground floor, where they are in direct contact with the exterior spaces. 

ARCHITECTURE

Its scale and location make De Meers an urban project that is part of the Waregem skyline.
Its design is based on an optimised functionality in combination with a modern design and solid building materials. The new care wing forms a unit with the existing rest home. The entrance and cafeteria are accessible along a slowly inclined slope, which makes it seem as if these are on ground level, although they are actually located on the first floor.

The building volume thus rests upon a plinth with a walking trail under and around the building. The structure is strongly defined by the specific function of each space and was designed to match the needs of the employees as well as the residents to an optimal extent. Both user groups were consulted in order to create a design that was functional and modern with an agreeable atmosphere. 

HOMELINESS

The challenge of the De Meers Project was to create a homely atmosphere for a large concentration of residents. This was put into practice by interventions at various levels.

Homely scale
Though the building consists of six levels, it does not feel large and massive thanks to the breaks and cuts between the volumes. The use of various materials brings extra variation to the building. By putting the entrance on the first floor, where it is accessible via a wide esplanade, the building was made virtually smaller in height.

Choice of material
The wooden floors in the rooms were a specific request from the Board. As wood or laminate is a relatively vulnerable sort of material this choice was rather exceptional, although it did create a homely atmosphere. Unfortunately, the number of incontinent residents has risen since then. Therefore, a high quality PVC imitation will be used in the second construction phase.