Residential Care Centre Midden-Inn

The new care structure in the Netherlands aims to ensure people can live at home for as long as possible. The government wants to separate care and residence entirely. In Heerjansdam – a town in close proximity to Rotterdam – they are well adapted to this. In the town centre a residential building has been constructed for people with a demand for care, who would prefer to continue living independently, but who also need to be able to ask for care assistance 24 hours a day. Villagers are able to remain in their own village and – despite an increasing demand for assistance – be part of the community in familiar surroundings.

Future-proof residences

The assignment was clear: a complex that is innovative sustainably as well as liveability and compliant with the latest standards on these topics. EGM architects translated this into a compact building with 36 apartments where one can live comfortably and is cared for. The apartments are spacious, wheelchair accessible and have their own patio. In addition, the complex has various other functions, including a restaurant, various multifunctional spaces for, for example, a general practitioner, physical therapist, a home care organization or a welfare organization. The complex and the apartments have been designed in such a way that residents can also continue to live here when the demand for care increases.

Thanks to the spaciousness and high-quality technological facilities, residents can continue to live in the apartments even when the demand for care increases

Midden-Inn as a centre within the village community

At the heart of the residential centre are the common areas, where numerous activities can be organized. Not only for the residents themselves, but also for the inhabitants of the village. The large multifunctional room with kitchen can, for example, be rented by external parties. In this way the liveliness of the village is brought in, as it were, and the residential centre as well as its residents are at the centre of the village community.

Sustainability

Various sustainable solutions have been applied in the centre and energy costs are exceptionally low. This is partly due to innovative applications in the field of energy saving and sustainable energy. There are solar panels on the roof, LED lighting has been applied throughout the building, there is a thermal storage installation combined with a solar boiler, and heat recovery is used. It is the combination of the various techniques that makes the building even more sustainable than was initially expected.

GPR Building

But sustainability is more than just energy. It also concerns themes such as Environment, Health, Quality of Usage and Future Value. With the highest score for a project in the Drechtsteden according to the GPR Building assessment method, the complex is astounding in that regard as well.

From the point of view of living comfort, the level of ambition was much higher than the legal minimum

Luxury sustainable social rental apartments

Midden-Inn is an extraordinarily luxurious, sustainable and comfortable building with social rental apartments, maintenance-friendly and with very low energy costs. The design of EGM architects, in which living and care are completely separated, is so encompassing that it can potentially be a solution for similar issues in the future.