Henan, China
Domain Architects have created an unconventional elderly nursing home in Chengdong, China where residents gather and socialize in the center of the structure and their residences consist of small independent concrete volumes around the socializing areas.
Chengdong Elderly Nursing home was short-listed for a 2021 International Architecture Award from The Chicago Athenaeum and The European Centre for Architecture Art Design and Urban Studies.
Located in a small town in central China, this project consists of 1800sqm of living and service facilities for elderly people, and 350 sqm of community office with independent entrance and circulation.
The team rejected the conventional model of integrated building volumes, with its hotel or dorm-like living experience.
Instead, all of the private rooms for elderly people are separated into small independent concrete volumes with abundant natural light and dispersed to the perimeter of the site, while all the public space (dining, entertainment, library, medical room, etc.) and serving facilities are placed in the center.
With all the mechanical rooms in the basement and staff rooms on the 2nd floor, there is no need for the elderly inhabitants to leave the ground floor.
All the volumes are connected by a network of seamless paths covered by translucent PC panels.
Subsequently, these meandering corridors divide the exterior space into many courtyards that vary in size and shape, providing a cozy stroll experience for the inhabitants.
Surrounded by and filled with bamboos, the site created interlace of interior and exterior, and man-made and nature, evoking the ideal living experience in traditional Chinese garden culture.
Project: Chengdong Elderly Nursing Home
Architects: Domain Architects
Client: Xiuwu County Bureau of Civil Affairs
Photographers: Domain Architects
