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Architects: 3RW Arkitekter, NORD Architects
- Area: 12500 m²
- Year: 2020
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Photographs:Adam Mørk
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Lead Architects: 3RW arkitekter and NORD Architects
Text description provided by the architects. Lyngdal Healthcare Is Playing an Active Role in The Neighborhood. Lyngdal Healthcare Centre, in southern Norway, lets the elderly ‘stay in the loop’ as an integral part of society. Designed by 3RW Arkitekter and NORD Architects, the care home offers a vision in which social interaction, comfort, and well-being among residents, visitors, and staff are key to delivering welfare.
Age-integrated urban development. Lyngdal Healthcare Centre offers long- or short-term accommodation, temporary care residencies, day-care treatment, and home-care services. The general idea is to give eldercare a central role in society by letting both residents and the featured amenities contribute to a varied and vibrant urban environment. A hairdresser, a shop, a café, and a day-care center are all generously shared between residents and locals, as a standing invitation to the surrounding community.
“Integrating care homes and senior housing in urban planning is key to ensuring the long-term resilience of local communities. As an aging population puts pressure on the welfare state as we know it, it becomes increasingly clear that we need to develop new kinds of care facilities.”
Says Johannes Molander Pedersen, architect and founding partner in NORD Architects. The building revolves around the central atrium, from where you reach the five wings with their residences and wards. The wings reflect the users’ diversity in age and performance by offering different types of accommodation – from senior apartments, to care units, to dementia wards.
Besides the four residential wards with their total of 50 beds, Lyngdal Healthcare Centre also includes a day-care center, physio- and occupational therapy, an optician, a medical practice, a dentist, a health clinic, a cafeteria, and canteen, a launderette, hairdresser’s, chiropodist, fitness center and shared outdoor spaces such as sensory gardens and terraces.
The aim is to create a safe, caring environment for the diverse users – residents, visitors, relatives, staff members, and volunteers – all of whom should think of Lyngdal Healthcare Centre as a homely place rather than an institution. To create the right atmosphere, the design focuses on daylighting, pleasant acoustics, nice views, and the integration of welfare technologies and assistive devices. The color scheme creates a quiet ambiance as a calm backdrop for wayfinding that serves to assist any new residents and people suffering from dementia or cognitive disabilities.
“As we grow older and live longer, we’ll see that people who move into care homes require more care. The new care facilities need to allow for that – while also promoting quality of life and workplace efficiency, so the staff can spend more time with the residents.”
Says Sixten Rahlff, architect and managing partner at 3RW arkitekter. Close to nature. The design’s integration into the beautiful Norwegian landscape provides a powerful backdrop for the care home and makes you feel part of nature wherever you are in the building. All the wards have direct access from the common rooms to green outdoor spaces or large rooftop terraces with sensory gardens. A wide variety of outdoor spaces encourage residents and staff to use and seek recreation on the grounds in different ways.
