Description

The Competence Centre for People with Dementia in Nuremberg is the first initiative of its kind in Germany to establish a network of medical and nursing care professionals, relatives and the general public. Opened in 2006, the centre provides both information, advice and preventive assistance as well as care and therapy practice.

An architectural competition initiated by the care provider was won by the Berlin-based office feddersenarchitekten with a design which features a five-storey entrance building that, with its glazed street frontage, creates a strong symbol of the centre’s open approach to dementia. The entrance area contains a baker and a chemist, and above these rooms for consultation, events and care training, while the quieter, sheltered rear of the building provides a home for a total of 96 residents arranged in care groups on three storeys. The centre is a medium-sized facility of a size commonly found in German cities, often in the form of a headquarters with further smaller facilities in other locations.

Three pavilion-like buildings are clustered around a forecourt. A wide cantilevered canopy marks the central entrance to the lobby. With its white rendered façades and open frontage, the centre takes its cues from the neighbouring buildings and fits into the surroundings of the newly built residential neighbourhood “Tilly Park”.

The outwardly restrained rectangular residential buildings are connected with one another, via fully-glazed staircases to form a complex and provide a differentiated series of internal spaces with quite different atmospheres: the “patio type” has a light and modern interior courtyard, the “janus type” has a dark, protective cave-like feel and the “rustic type” interprets a traditional rural living style. Each of the three floors feature variations on the three types by employing different colours and materials to create a variety of different atmospheres and living qualities.

Twelve residents live together in a so-called “residential group”, much like in a large apartment. Eight single rooms and two twin rooms are grouped around a central living and dining area which adjoins a communal loggia. The entrances to the residents’ rooms are marked by indented niches, each creating a semi-public entrance area to a pair of rooms. The residents can sit here and chat or simply watch what is going on. Each of these niches has a different colour or wallpaper so that they are clearly identifiable. A wooden panel with shelf next to each entrance can be personalised by the resident, for example with a photo or favourite object. A pigeonhole beneath the shelf serves as a post box where other residents and the carers can leave messages.

The floor plan arrangement minimises the use of corridors, keeping distances shorter and more economical and avoiding associations with nursing homes or hospitals. The use of ”stable doors” where the upper section can be opened independently of the lower section, allows residents and staff to be aurally aware of activities outside their space, in the process making the occasional journey unnecessary. The materials and textures used reinforce the residents’ relationship to their surroundings. The hand-troweled plaster in the “janus type” or the timber panelling in the “rustic type” recall familiar environments. In the “rustic type” the masonry of the wall is even left exposed and not covered with plaster; the bricks are simply sealed with linseed oil so that the residents can feel the rustic quality in more ways than one.

The design of the outdoor areas, by the Berlin landscape architect Harms Wulf, picks up and continues the qualities of the interior. The garden provides a variety of opportunities for activity as well as contemplation. Intimate seating areas arranged at intervals along the paths provide an opportunity to sit down on one’s own or in small groups. Raised beds allow old people direct contact with plants without having to bend down, stimulating the senses of touch, smell, sight and taste. Large windows create a strong connection between inside and outside. Residents can therefore experience the change of seasons from indoors, either seated on a low window-bench or from their bed.

Through the establishment of the first Competence Centre for People with Dementia in cooperation with the local hospital centre, a counselling association for relatives, the Psychogerontological Institute at the University of Erlangen-Nuremberg and the Bavarian Alzheimer Society, it has been possible to provide a broad spectrum of offerings for all those affected by the illness. Accompanying research projects and initial evaluations have confirmed the sustainability of the concept and further centres modelled on the same concept are now planned for Munich and Upper Franconia.

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