(BDT_11_051) Ulrika Eleonora Home for the Elderly

Description

Situated in a small town on the southern coast of Finland about 100 km east of Helsinki, this project comprises group homes for elderly people who are physically debilitated or suffering from dementia. The group home is akin to a large family, with between seven and nine inhabitants in each unit, in which the care staff acts as “parents”.

In 1999, the Loviisa District Service Home Foundation together with Loviisa City, the STAKES National Research and Development Centre for Welfare and Health, and the Central Organisation for the Care of the Elderly arranged an architectural competition for a 56-unit complex to be built in conjunction with the Ulrikakoti Home for the Elderly. The existing Ulrikakoti, a 19th-century wooden residence for the elderly, has already been extended twice and comprises a main building with two symmetrically arranged wings, one for storage purposes, the other the Ukkola Men’s Residence. The main structure is listed as a historically significant building.

The winning competition entry was based on the architectural premise of continuing the old timber traditions of Loviisa. In addition, the massing of the new buildings is designed so that the principal building retains its status as the dominant component, and the symmetry of the existing layout is not disturbed. At the same time, the intention was to break up the mass of the building in order to avoid any institutional associations. The building thus forms a “village” of small-scale housing units with semi-detached and terraced “houses” and a low-rise apartment building (the latter is not yet built).

In an effort to continue the small-scale dimensions and intimacy of the streetscape, the extended volumes of the building were reduced by resorting to the formation of angles, so that the view of the road would vary as is common along older, winding roads. The fairly large building complex is fitted into the terrain by employing a fan-shaped articulation and terracing of the site. The office areas adjoining the entrance and a sauna section linked to outdoor patios are clearly visible in the massing of the whole. Special colours distinguish them from the rest of the building.

The wooden building matches the context of the landscape and local tradition, employing a contemporary means of expression without resorting to a strongly contrasting theme. Features of the external cladding such as the width of the boarding, paint, colours and so on relate to the long-standing building tradition in Loviisa. Much wood is also used in the interior, creating a warm and colourful atmosphere of domesticity. The external colours are partly echoed in the interior, while the entrances to the living units are enhanced with colours and stained boarding. Domestic appliance rooms and saunas are finished with wooden panelling, and the dayrooms have stained columns and beams. Each resident has a private room opening onto the group’s common living and dining areas, ensuring that care staff and the residents are always in contact with one another. The doors to the private rooms open inwards so that they can be left open. The aim is to enhance a sense of community. These doors are also glazed, with louvred blinds so that the occupants can regulate visibility in and out of the room themselves. Furthermore, the private rooms were designed to be airy and have high ceilings, inspired by the character of the old building. Rooms with sloped ceilings vary in height from 2.8 m along the window wall to 3.6 m along the inner wall. Corner windows in the private rooms create a connection with the world outside. Two group homes share domestic appliance rooms and sauna areas that are connected to patios, as are the living areas.

The building is equipped with underfloor heating which, like the air conditioning, can be adjusted for each room separately. Each private room has a bathroom, the “Gaius brand”, a product developed by the architectural office in conjunction with the Central Organisation for the Care of the Elderly: although smaller than the Finnish standards for disabled persons, they provide enough space for two helpers to attend. The technical solutions used in the building support the basic aims of the planning concept to encourage independent living for the elderly, and to increase their sense of well-being.