Résidence Plantzette
The Clinique Sainte-Claire serves as the “raw material” for the construction of this residence for the elderly. However, to comfortably house a sufficient number of beds, it was necessary to enlarge the existing building and adapt it to its new use, while preserving the identity of the edifice, which is part of Sierre's heritage. To keep the elegant lines of this 65 m long block, the solution was to add an extension along the north façade, which overlooks the town and the vineyard. This new elongated element was merged with the existing block, and the building gained a quarter of its volume.
The project is keen to give its residents the possibility of living independently — the choice to withdraw into one's intimate world, but also to engage in community life. Taking this principle into account, each floor is organised as a unit in itself, with a night zone of 20 single-bed rooms and one double-bed room, and a day zone. In the day zone are the carers' station as well as a shared dining room and living room. Residents can therefore take their meals in their room, in the dining room of their living floor, or in the one on the ground floor.
The intervention was conceived and designed so that residents feel as much at home as possible. This objective governs all the decisions made during the project in order to offer them a genuine quality of life. Thus light, materiality and furnishing are key elements of the operation. The windows become more generous so that light enters more fully both the public spaces and the rooms, while the interiors and the furniture shed the characteristics that associate them with the hospital. Wood is therefore favoured to bring a warm atmosphere closer to a domestic one.
Finally, the Résidence Plantzette also seeks to avoid isolation and encourage conviviality. Each day zone is surrounded by a circulation loop, allowing short walks indoors. In addition, a vast therapeutic garden is available to residents, with a secured pond and a fine variety of species, flowers, aromatic plants, shrubs and trees. It thus offers various opportunities for encounter, beyond the more functional shared spaces such as the dining room, while allowing everyone to live their autonomy outside the private space.