square, church and courtyard
Kruishoutem Care Centre
The site for the new care campus in Kruishoutem is an exceptionally beautiful place with a long history. The new building replaces the wings of a neo-Gothic monastery, while the church is preserved. The existing park with monumental trees will be part of the new building complex. The project offers the opportunity to make the specific qualities of the site visible and accessible to the village community.
The program consists of residential care rooms, assisted living units and service flats, and it is almost four times larger than the original building. The vast volume needs to relate to the adjoining, graceful church.
| status: | Open Oproep, competition design, laureaat |
| year: | 2011 |
Our proposal for the de Waegebrughe care campus consists of a multifunctional courtyard building and a residential building linked to the main building by a covered passage. The existing St. Gabriel's Church and a new square between the church and the new building form the centerpiece of the new ensemble. The village square connects the village community, the park and the new care campus. The passage marks the end of the village square and forms a covered public outdoor area protected from rain and sun with views to the square and park.
The building is organised around a large, sunken courtyard. The terraced construction of the building creates pleasant outdoor spaces and ensures plenty of daylight on each floor. The basement overlooks the enclosed garden; this is where the department for young psychiatric patients is housed. All areas of the department have direct access to the garden in the middle, which is regarded as a therapeutic outdoor living environment in which residents can move freely and safely.
in a second phase the long building on the Marolleweg can be completed as a second courtyard building, built above a carpark on the ground floor
The architecture of the campus is bright and restful and has a refined ornamentation. Both buildings are clearly lower than the church, and have lighter colours, and thus relate to the small scale of the residential building along the Passionistenstraat and the new school. The many outdoor spaces, balcony gates and flower boxes give the buildings a friendly, homely character.
The ground floor provides public amenities with an open relationship with the surroundings: the services of the social restaurant on the square on the north side and the nursery with a large terrace on the south side.
The residential care centre occupies the entire first floor. The rooms are grouped into small clusters and connected to various communal, decentralised living rooms with balconies.
room types
The view of the site from the village, the Mariagrot and the forest next to the church remains unchanged. The parking area on the Marolleweg has a generous, green layout to preserve the rural character of the place. The Passionistenstraat gets a broader and greener profile between the church and the school and turns into an important space with central significance for the village community.
