The nursing home of the future- a secure, elderly friendly neighbourhood between town and countryside

Homeliness, understanding, sense of community, security, care, green grounds, clarity and functionality are some of the key words that characterise the advisory group’s competition proposal for the new nursing home, Krebsestien, which is to be built in a new, elderly friendly neighbourhood in Esbjerg.

The plan for the development is rooted in the idea of a village community, featuring the nursing home and a number of public spaces in the heart of the village - referred to as ‘the village loop.’ The village loop is surrounded and bordered by the other elderly friendly development, whose façades face the loop, thereby helping shape and create defined public spaces, meeting points and activity spaces, where residents can move around freely in a secure, well-defined setting.

“The nursing home of the future must be able to embrace everyone. In the actual design process we are drawing on our many years of experience in the fields of care and dementia. We have found that with the right solutions we can achieve a great deal when it comes to creating a significantly better existence for the elderly and people with dementia, and for staff and relatives. We know that a whole range of criteria such as clarity, recognisability, a feeling of homeliness, communities and a simple structure are crucial for the well being of the future residents,” says Mikkel Wienberg, an architect and partner at FRIIS & MOLTKE.