St.Nikolaus

BRIEF: A home for the elderly, with 60 beds.

ADDED VALUE: Differentiated levels of public and private space enable the inhabitants to engage with one another in various ways. The rooms are divided between 3 building volumes, and the empty space between the volumes is converted from the usual access corridor into a kind of “interior street.” The wooden louvers, which also cover the outer façade transform the corridor walls into an internal façade from which the entrances to the rooms are set-off. Each of the two doors share a front porch that is equipped with a bench and a wooden parquet, creating a buffer-zone between the public access area and the private living quarters.

In comparison to a small city, this home for the elderly provides its inhabitants a lively environment through its sequence of passages and places including a foyer, “interior streets,” a green atrium, dining room, and terraced courtyard. The house is entered by a central main hall which creates a semi-public space, connecting the two living tracts. The building structure provides both an overview and efficient paths, guaranteeing that the service personnel are provided optimal working conditions and that the inhabitants are able to orientate themselves within the versatile space without having to relinquish any of its pleasant atmosphere. The relationship of tension between glass and wood, inside and outside, public openness and private intimacy mirrors the life of its senior citizens: the house becomes a protective shell that consciously filters and enables the public space so that it is integrated into the surroundings.

Typology
residence for senior citizens

Construction volume
gfa 4.350 m² cubature 14.200 m³

Client
Gemeindeverband Neumarkt am Wallersee realization 1999-2001 competition 1st prize 1998

Project manager
Stefan Haass artist Dieter Huber artistic adviser Peter Schüngel

Photographers
Fritz Lorber, Margherita Spiluttini

Awards
timber construction award of salzburg 2001 (closer selection)
architecture award of salzburg 2002
european village renovation award 2004