This daycare-centre is built for patients with major mental constraints. Mentally, they equal the level of a child with the age between 0 to 18 months. Moreover, most of them are physically and visually handicapped as well. This asked to careful attention to be payed to physiological and sensory aspects. Lighting, colour and tactile aspects influence the patients well-being in a direct manner. The resulting building thus became a feast for the senses.

The building occupies the last island of a row. The row of islands forms the spatial backbone of a newly developed city expansion. From an urban point of view, a multi-storey volume was preferable. However, the client asked for a single-storey building due to the nature of its use. To solve this contradiction, a shape was designed in such a way that the urban requirement for a visual accent was met. The island and building were developed together to form a fully integrated sculptural landscape.

To achieve this, a distinction has been made between facades that could be closed, and facades that require windows. Together with the roof, the closed facades are designed as a large folding plane. The roof-parts of the plane are made of light gray rubber, facade-parts of it are made of plastic-covered textile. This looks similar as the roof, however providing a slight transparancy. The facades with windows are made out of vertically applied roof tiles, thus reïnforcing the ambïguity between roof, facade and land. These facades are within reach of the patients and extended towards the interior. By doïng so, they form a warm, tactile face of the building, connecting the inside with the outside world.
The island is connected with the mainland by two bridges which were integral part of the design, as were the shores. Island and building became one, a daycare-island.


Client: Stichting IPSE

Project Data:

Number of Floors: 1
Footprint: 1280 m2
Material: ceramic rooftiles, Polyned Textile, grey and black rubber
Total Building Costs: 1.555.000 euro
Design: 2005-2006
Building: 2008-2009