Description

This complex of buildings, situated on a green site in the centre of Karlsruhe, is a model approach that aims to provide a home for elderly residents with a variety of different needs. In order to integrate the building into the greenery of the surroundings, all of the large trees were carefully retained, creating the impression that the building has stood on this spot for decades. Similarly, the subtle polychromatic colouring of the brickwork gives the building’s face a delicately aged appearance, lending the complex a timeless dignity.

Both the sight lines and entrance situation as well as the massing of the building take their cue from the local surroundings: the main building with a height of six storeys overlooks the street, while a second wing along a side street steps back and down to a height of four storeys to avoid blocking out the sun from the south for the neighbours. The square building is home to the nursing area, which is grouped around a central courtyard and can cater for 120 residents. On the fifth floor it contains a further 12 sheltered apartments. Day-care facilities are on the ground floor. A separate long building to one side houses a further 33 residences. Between the two parts, a connecting section contains all the public and communally used areas such as the foyer, chapel and consultation rooms.

The connecting building ensures that living areas and care facilities are closely linked so that residents who are in need of increased care do not have to leave their own four walls. The care area, with its single-loaded, glazed corridors arranged in a ring around the central courtyard, is designed to provide plenty of daylight as well as sufficient opportunity for movement. The rectangular courtyard is rotated with respect to the square plan of the building so that the corners of the corridors widen, creating lounge-like spaces that can be used for a variety of purposes. The corridors are analogous to street frontages, with benches in front of the entrances which are set back slightly from the “street”. Corner windows mark each “house” in the row. Using the internal staircase in the courtyard or the lift, resident dementia sufferers can descend from their storey and reach the courtyard and garden on their own without having to leave the building. In this way they are spared the feeling of being locked inside.

The compactness of the building, its economical use of space, the conservation of the trees and the solidity of the materials form the basis for a sustainable concept. Heat demand simulations were conducted during the design phase in order to optimise the building’s performance.

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Originally published in: Eckhard Feddersen, Insa Lüdtke, Living for the Elderly: A Design Manual, Birkhäuser, 2011.