Burgbreite Home for the Elderly

Eckhard Feddersen, Insa Lüdtke

Description

Since the reunification of Germany, the renovation of prefabricated buildings made with slab or element construction methods has been a recurring task for planners. So too in the architectural competition held in 1996 for the modernisation and extension of the former “pensioner’s home” to a contemporary home for the elderly. The proposal also needed to contribute to improving the overall amenities of the “Burgbreite” housing estate.

The architects Kauffmann Theilig & Partner responded by designing new building volumes that differ markedly from the linear perpendicularity of the surrounding buildings in order to give the home for the elderly a distinct profile in the predominantly multi-storey surroundings of the housing estate. In particular, the glazed tower on the south side that fans out from the façade creates a new centre and a point of identification. It contains a dining room on each floor and a common room for up to 20 people, which on the first and the third floor are augmented by sunny balconies.

The existing four-storey building from the 1970s, which contains the main nursing facilities for 92 residents, remains recognisable in its original form but is enlivened by a series of interventions in its façades. Full-height windows on the south side, each with a delicate wood-grille balustrade, as well as angled bay windows that puncture the plane of the façade on the north side, allow plenty of light into the building and lend the façade – together with its colour scheme – a completely new appearance.

The foyer – a glass hallway that serves as main entrance, meeting area and communal space – functions as a connector between the old and the new building and is the venue for a variety of diverse events. From here one reaches the main nursing wing in the old building as well as the single-storey, horseshoe-shaped new building containing the pavilion for people with dementia. The physiotherapy rooms and meeting areas.

The residential wing contains eight barrier-free two-bedroom apartments ranging from 45 to 57 m² whose living rooms and balconies face onto the public space outside. Diagonally-placed walls allow the living area to widen towards the west façade, providing maximum daylight illumination.

The pavilion with its fully-glazed façade facing onto the internal courtyard provides a brightly lit communal room as well as a sheltered outdoor circuit for residents suffering from dementia.