Expansion of care campus - ROB –RVT Yserheem

In the past 30 years, Europe has experienced an important decrease in the relative number of care institutions. This is a result of both the increase in health care at home and the increase in day care in the hospital.

The different care programmes that were developed between 1980 and 1990 are now fully established and working efficiently.

It has since become clear that providing housing facilities for residents with a high need for permanent care will give the best results in small entities that function as micro societies.

The design of rest homes has evolved throughout the years. What used to be an institution or a hospital, has in the 80’s become a residence in which the elderly were able to live in a homely environment. Care is replaced with assisted living facilities and a homely feel.
Although living remains a central concept, a new approach originated around the turn of the century.

The development of home care and new forms of communication result in a new situation in which the people that do need to be hospitalised also increasingly require more care. The pressure on caregivers thus also rises, irrespective of the fact that regulations with regard to quality are becoming stricter and the job market is experiencing a shortage of qualified profiles.

The concept of “living” has also evolved. Flanders’ Structure Plan, which prioritizes the concentration of new buildings within the existing residential centres, the cutting down on investments and on available building land and the growing importance of sustainable building impact architectural designs in a manner that is all too often underestimated.

Short connections, efficiency in the use of space and low maintenance reduce the pressure on caregivers. A smaller ecological footprint of the building, a reusable structure and a minimal loss of space reduce the pressure on the environment.

This project illustrates the vision presented above. In a compact building, we are designing interesting circulation patterns that give different impulses, from the exterior as well as from the interior world.
A small scaled approach based on the Cantous model is possible within this space, as well as a possibility to work with larger groups of residents.
As a whole, this environment should improve the general wellbeing of its residents; it should be a so called healing environment with special attention for
- safety and protection
- privacy
- option of freedom and autonomy
- interaction between caregivers, employees and residents
- interaction between residents and their visitors, their family
- accessibility
- profitability (maintenance, energy, ecology, sustainable building)
- environment (the urban and social structure, ecology, sustainable building,...)