Ferrier Baudet Architects keeps an eye on the latest projects & trends and we just spotted this interesting building:
It is a new nursing home in Portugal by Aires Mateus Arquitectos. The style is similar to the one of the Childcare Centre by Alejandro Muñoz Miranda that we posted a few months ago: simple but well articulated geometric shapes, white façade with a checkerboard effect, big windows with clever recesses to provide sunshading and individual balconies to each room. The insertion in the site is also very clever as the building meanders in the landscape and almost disappears into the hill at one end.
Geometric facade
Checkerboard effect
Insertion in the hill
The interior, well… maybe a little sterile…
A very white interior
We wonder about the lack of visual contrasts between the different surfaces and the absence of textures and colours. How appropriate is it for the elderly who have very specific needs?
A resident’s room
The reactions to this new building vary widely and we have to say that we have heard the term ‘nursing home for architects’ a few times –and probably with good reasons-!
On the other hand, this project clearly states that nursing homes don’t have to be traditional (read ‘boring’). It is good to see that there are attempts here and there to come up with something different –with more or less success…-!
All photos by architectural photographer Fernando Guerra and for more photos have a look at: http://www.dezeen.com/2011/02/07/house-for-elderly-people-by-aires-mateus-arquitectos/