Home Les Tilleuls
A “U” open to the park. The extension of 40 beds is achieved by adding a third building body that links the two existing wings. This precise connection to the existing buildings allows the whole to function as a unitary entity while minimising the built impact. The privileged natural environment that makes the specificity of the place is entirely preserved. The green spaces are reinforced all around the new complex and extended between the three wings on the first-floor level.
A “U” on a single level. The ground floor, in direct connection with the park, accommodates on a single level the spaces shared by the whole nursing home and becomes a place of life and encounters for families and relatives. At its heart, activity and relaxation zones are arranged around a meditative patio. The shared ground-floor level serves the three emerging wings, between which the therapeutic garden takes place. On the same level as the first-floor units, it is easily accessible for the other units. It thus enjoys a privileged position, protected between the buildings and open to the park.
On the upper floors, the U typology makes it possible to establish a functional link with the existing spaces, favouring a more rational overall operation. The two care units on each floor thus have an optimised size and a direct link between them, which fosters synergies and gives flexibility in the distribution of the rooms. The circulation is punctuated by dilation zones that break with the linearity induced by the existing block typology, while giving an intimate character to the shared spaces. The refurbishment of the heads of buildings 2000 and 3000 — beyond their necessary role of seismic reinforcement — benefits the units by offering them a living space open to the park.
Clarified accesses. Currently, the various flows — visitors and logistics, pedestrians and vehicles — are indistinctly mixed in the same zone, at the rear of buildings 1000 and 2000. By reversing the parking zones, the visitor and logistics flows are clearly separated. From the south-east car park (currently intended for staff), visitors reach the main entrance directly by walking through the park. Thus positioned on the side bordering the park, access to the home is now frontal — and no longer lateral. The entrance gains visibility while offering a generous forecourt necessary for an establishment of this importance.
The existing access to the north-west of the plot, along the Avenue de l'Europe, in turn becomes an essentially technical access. The vehicle accesses to the school pavilions and the existing delivery zones are maintained. The car park in the study area is now intended for staff, and the current entrance becomes a secondary entrance, directly linked to the changing rooms, kitchen, etc.
This minimal intervention, consisting of swapping the accesses, clarifies the flows and gives the entrance importance and visibility. Building 1000 and the remarkable trees that border it are also enhanced by this reversal. In a project within the development zone, the visitor car park would offer the 24 spaces at the edge of the plot, to the south, still directly connected to the entrance.
Inside, visitors are directed to the lifts on either side of the reception, in order to preserve the privacy of the ground-floor unit. The vertical circulations of the new building, for their part, distribute the logistics flows (clean laundry, dirty laundry, laundry access …) to the two care units on the upper floors. The technical and visitor flows are thus clearly distinct and strategically positioned. Residents and staff naturally use all the circulations without distinction.
A unitary “U”. As the three wings form a whole, the façades are made unitary by a language that allows the variations in depth to be treated (solid façades, openings, balcony zones). This treatment can also serve as a common thread for a possible later refurbishment of the existing building.
The floor: 2 blocks, then a “U”, a level and the park. Construction takes place in three successive phases. First, the new wing linking the two existing blocks is built without hindering the general operation of the home. The existing accesses — entrance and deliveries — are also maintained. The ground floor and the heads of buildings 2000 and 3000 are treated in a second phase, the shared spaces having to be temporarily moved into a provisional structure. Once the building is reoccupied, the outdoor areas can be laid out.
Depending on the investment strategy, a later fourth phase may be considered for the refurbishment of the façades and roofs of the existing buildings.