Oostkamp - Care site en residential care centre Ter Luchte

The study and design assignment for drawing up a master plan and building a residential care center on the Ter Luchte care site in Oostkamp was awarded to the temporary partnership Areal architects - Urbain Architectencollectief with subcontractors Atelier Arne Deruyter, Studie 10 and Bureau Fonseca.

The design vision starts from the connection of the site with the village. A new slow road is added: De Dreve. It structures the site and connects to the green connecting roads with the neighborhood. The new residential care center will be located on an inviting village square that can be used flexibly by residents, visitors and passers-by. It offers both shade and respite. On the side of Terluchtestraat and Leitmolenstraat, the residential care center will be bordered by a new, more subdued park garden that creates a solid green edge and provides shelter. The construction of a parking forest alleviates the need for both greening and parking. The permeable parking spaces will be arranged in a varied tree massif consisting of the existing valuable trees in combination with new standard trees. The building itself will have patio gardens and lockable terraces. The proposal thus excels through a diverse range of relationships between inside and outside.  

The local service center will be strategically zoned. Together with the meeting rooms, offices and hair salon, it connects directly to the new village square and the residential care center. It is also close to the assisted living homes. This encourages multiple uses and experiences and integrates the care environment into the village fabric. The building volumes are linked in such a way as to create manageable facades of varying heights. Partly due to the playful roofscape, the whole feels like a village.  

In the building, the program components are connected in such a way that a sense of small scale is created. Each unit can function on its own while being connected to the adjacent residential entity. The direct link between the assisted living and care units also contributes to the optimization of operation.  

The concept focuses on connectedness and homeliness and offers opportunities to create an innovative care environment that bridges the residential neighbourhood.  

Care site Ter Luchte in Ruddervoorde has a long history of care. Since 1838 already, the elderly have been cared for in various ways. The site is located on the edge of the rural village centre of Ruddervoorde. It covers 2.6 ha and today has a traditional composition, with a residential care centre (92 beds), a services centre, assisted-living housing (30) and flats for seniors (18). Our residential care centre houses residents requiring a very high level of care. The number of residents with dementia is increasing. In our changing society, we see it as essential to provide a safe living environment with respect for autonomy wherever possible. We see the demand for assisted living and/or sheltered accommodation linked to a care home evolving in the near future. The master plan and the new building should therefore allow for an expansion of assisted-living housing and/or sheltered accommodation if necessary.

The non-profit organization Vzw Ter Luchte, a public-private partnership between the local administration of Oostkamp and the Groep Zorg H. Familie vzw, has been managing and operating the care site since 1 January 2020. The non-profit organization opts for quality care where quality of life is central. Care must be and remain accessible and affordable for everyone.

Vzw Ter Luchte wants to further develop the care site both in terms of care and spatially, with a view to the challenges of tomorrow. The Ter Luchte care site must remain a green site which will come into its own even more through high-quality design and easy accessibility. It should not only be pleasant to live there: the site should also be better integrated into the village fabric of Ruddervoorde and be inviting to the neighbourhood and its surroundings. 

The site should be home to a new, safe, functional and future-proofresidential (elderly) care building where clients can really feel at home and staff enjoy coming to work. The location is to be determined when the master plan is drawn up. As regards the existing buildings on the site, the flats for senior citizens (2020) will be retained anyway. The local services centre and assisted-living flats (2013) will preferably be integrated into the new project but may be adapted if necessary/desirable. The old residential care centre may be finally demolished but should be able to continue functioning until the new residential care centre is ready. 

The focus is on life-course living where customized care can be provided. The building must be flexible in use and adaptable to rapidly evolving (care) needs. It must be possible to organize care and logistic support efficiently both within the building and on site. The location of the supporting logistic flows must be logical and have as little impact as possible on the qualitative experience of the site.

The care site should become a vibrant, community-buildingsite where other functions (e.g. catering, childcare, residential units for volunteers, etc.) can be accommodated in addition to the specific care functions. Ideas in this regard need to be further elaborated. During the drafting of the master plan, the necessary flexibility is therefore expected to enable a complementary programme.

The assignment consists of two parts:

• Drafting of a master plan for the Ter Luchte care site. The aim is to determine the future footprint of the buildings, the contours of the public space, accessibility to the site and the connection with the surrounding area.
• Design of a new residential care centre at the Ter Luchte care site. The starting point is a residential facility for elderly care with a capacity of 119 beds (cf. current Flemish standards and financing modalities), according to the concept of small-scale standardized living. The building should be adaptable and usable for other forms of residential care in the future. A combination of larger housing units (up to 30 residents) and smaller and/or linked housing units housed in an overarching organizational model is being considered. The housing units should be part of a collective story but also offer residents sufficient autonomy and privacy. The possibility to link housing units constitutes an additional asset in the operation.

To fulfil its ambitions, the Ter Luchte non-profit association is looking for a multidisciplinary design team that:

• has the ambition to develop a quality care site for the future
• participates in the search for innovative and creative solutions to complex challenges
• is willing to work intensively and proactively with the commissioning authority to achieve a high-quality concept
• has affinity, know-how and/or experience in building collective care facilities in a subsidized context, whether or not through an associated Flemish partner
• guarantees cost-efficient and sustainable architecture.

Included in the assignment and fee

• architecture, stability and techniques

Excluded from the assignment and fee

• topographical measurements
• ground probes
• soil hygiene investigation
• archaeological survey
• demolition inventory
• asbestos inventory

Selection conditions

The candidate must be registered with the Order of Architects (or equivalent - see selection guide 2.1.1)

Project team

• At least one architect with 8 years’ experience as a project architect on public or private design assignments.

Referentieprojecten

• 1 reference project shows the candidate’s experience in dealing with the integration of an architectural project into an existing built context.
• 1 reference project shows the candidate’s experience in designing a collective care facility.
• 1 reference project shows that the designer has experience in designing a building that pays attention to flexible and adaptable use of space.

The following holds for these reference projects:

• Each reference explains what role the designer played in the submitted project.
• References can be both built projects and projects under construction or in the design phase.

Selection and awards criteria

See the selection guideline