How can we give meaning to “living together” while at the same time responding to the specific needs of each resident?

The new “Borgerwijk” care campus embodies Borgerstein’s strategic vision, focused on elderly care and support for people with disabilities. On the site of the former seminary building, where the association’s care centre was originally located, new homes have been created that meet the needs of each resident. The multifunctional campus provides accommodation for 70 residents with disabilities, 120 nursing home residents and 50 residents of assisted-living flats. The campus also includes a childcare facility and logistical services, integrated into an urban context.

The new care campus is part of a multifunctional, dynamic and green neighbourhood. The buildings vary in scale and appearance according to their function, creating a diversity that reflects the residents and contrasts with the size of the 80,000 m² project. The combination of a homely, small-scale atmosphere with the logic of a large-scale organisation presents an interesting design challenge.

The different entities –rest and care home, assisted-living flats and a pavilion for residents with disabilities – are organised as an elongated strip alongside the existing seminary, with shared open spaces in between, as in an urban district. External functions such as the childcare centre and day centre strengthen the relationship between the campus and its surroundings.

Based on our urban design vision and the programme of requirements, we create spaces that closely match the needs of their users. This ranges from smooth accessibility for people with reduced mobility, to abundant natural light and views of the remarkable landscape, to an environment free of sensory disturbances, all adapted to specific limitations. For each resident group, we seek a balance between autonomy, connection and safety. Everything is designed according to the specific needs of every resident.

The campus masterplan was developed in collaboration with Stéphane Beel Architects, to carefully and pragmatically integrate administrative and logistical functions. The buildings are conceived as flexible structures that can adapt to new ways of working, evolving services, digitalisation and functional innovations. A central main road acts as a guiding thread through the park, structuring the new buildings and streamlining logistics. In this way, the architecture can continue to serve a very diverse group of people in need and keep pace with the rapid evolution of specialised care.

This long-term project, awarded through an ambitious competition, brought architects and contractors together as a construction team from the outset under a design-and-build formula. This teamwork makes it possible to successfully combine our architectural vision of contemporary, human-centred living and care environments with the practical, constructive expertise of the building partners. Only in this way can projects emerge that are coherent at the urban scale while being tailored to the needs of each individual user.