Description

Commissioned by the City of Dornbirn, the building stands alongside an existing nursing home in a park-like landscape and exhibits in its architectural design both clarity and openness as well as spatial variety and differentiation. The alternating arrangement of flush-fitted window bands and the raised parapets of the communal terraces lend the façades of the clear-cut, rectangular volume a certain tension. The precise, narrow incisions of the terraces heighten this impression, creating a vibrant play of light and shadow in the otherwise balanced arrangement of the façade.

In the construction of the four-storey timber structure, special attention was given to the selection of ecologically friendly materials as well as a well-insulated building envelope to create a building that is efficient for both client and user alike. For the architects it was also important to create as much openness as possible through the use of extensive glazing, breaking down the boundary between indoors and outdoors. The French windows in the residents’ rooms extend almost to the floor, affording a view out over the park from the bed or a chair.

The three upper floors of the building rest on a glazed plinth set back from the façade so that the building appears to float delicately above the ground. The exceptionally spacious design of the ground floor is punctuated by open areas which allow residents to go outdoors and move about even in unfavourable weather conditions. Room-like courtyards in the interior offer countless views across the complex and a full-height atrium lends the home transparency and provides an overview. The generous use of wood throughout for the walls and ceilings as well as the furniture, all made by a local joiner, respond to the residents’ need for security and comfort.

The individual clusters of rooms are each gathered around a central area – the “market square” – which features large-format photos of familiar scenes in and around Dornbirn.

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