CARE HOME, SCHOTEN

The house is intended for a family of 6 with a son with a disability (Angelman syndrome). The home must thus be tailored to the son’s spatial care needs. This means that the house must be made fully wheelchair accessible and that the turning radii of the wheelchair are normative in the development of the ground floor plan. In addition, a specific sleeping area with appropriate sanitary facilities for the son must be located on the ground floor level (safety). Additional, the sizing of assisted devices/bicycle trailers/wheelchairs affect the final plan. Since the development of the son with disabilities is difficult to estimate, the home responds to practically every possible scenario. Thus, the home becomes a sustainable living environment for the family.

The layered façade architecture where floors in masonry are emphasized by horizontal masonry dressings, scales the home. The black window profiles blend into the glass surfaces and provide a calm appearance to the home. At the ground level, the brick façade at the entrance level folds inward, accentuating the entry. This procedure is also done on the rear facade. This gives the building a softer appearance and broadens the view from inside the house to the garden.

The dwelling faces the four sides surrounding the building so that no “backsides” are created. Special attention is paid to the relationship of the dwelling to the public domain. Large floor-to-ceiling windows create an interaction between inside and outside so that one can see that this home is lived in. At the rear, these ground-level windows create a strong relationship between inside and outside.