-
-
-
-
Competition: 2011, 1st Prize
Project partner Feddersen Architekten
Client: Senevita AG/Waser Gruppe
Use: senior citizen center and housing for the elderly
Size: ca 23.000 m²
-
-
Design of a senior citizen center, Zollikofen, Switzerland

-

The design proposal for the new building of a senior citizen center in Zollikofen, Switzerland, provides 172 places for clinical treatment and 57 OAP-friendly apartments. The main idea of the layout is to provide the highest possible flexibility in floor plan and future use between the elderly housing and the senior citizen center programme.

A centerally placed axis connects six cube like pavilions. This allows for a meandering assembly of the rooms of the senior citizen center. Two green courtyards are located alongside Berner Straße, which serve as main entrances to the senior citizen center, as well as to the neighbouring medical center and residential building. The sequence of the cubes along the street create an urban front as well as integrate the building into rural character the surroundings.

On the ground floor arcaded sidewalks form a distinct and prestigious address to the street.
The floor plans’ layout allows a maximum of flexibility between residential use and clinical treatment areas. A modular typology and a clear structural design make diversity and flexibility possible. A functional area with more than 30 care places on one level, as well as the use as a group with a maximum of 15 inhabitants is possible.
Different spatial situations, generous open living areas and narrowings alongside the connecting axis shape the inside of the clinical treatment area, thus creating a lively sequence of spaces.

Slats give the facades a lively appearance and shield the inhabitants from traffic noise, unwanted insights and direct sun exposure.

The design received the 1st prize in an invited competition and the jury recommended the project for construction.