Copenhagen studio NORD Architects drew on analysis into the constructed surroundings’s impression on folks with dementia for the Alzheimer’s Village in Dax, the primary undertaking of its type in France.

Awarded by way of a contest in 2016, the studio’s design references the city format of Dax’s previous city to create a way of familiarity for its residents, with a communal “market sq.” wrapped by concrete arcades at its centre.

“When designing for folks with dementia, the place the lack of cognitive skills is without doubt one of the important features of residing with the situation, we design with the goal to assist them in the very best method,” NORD Architects associate Morten Rask Gregersen instructed Dezeen.

“The design of the bodily surroundings subsequently depends on an concept of readability or recognition the place easy design concepts and parts assist the affected person as their state and skills change over time,” he continued.

The Alzheimer’s Village, which the studio mentioned is “the primary care residence in France for folks with dementia,” is organised into 4 clusters.

Every of those homes round 30 residents and has its personal devoted amenities and courtyard.

To the north, the primary sq. is surrounded by acquainted features, together with a grocer, hairdresser and restaurant, that are meant to deliver a way of “recognisable day-to-day-life” to the village.

Modelled on the typology of a “bastide” – a kind of fortified city that may be discovered close by – concrete arches encompass the village’s important sq., creating extra shaded, personal areas across the fountains and seating areas at its centre.

All through the village, timber plank cladding, plaster and pitched, clay-tiled roofs had been additionally meant to evoke kinds and textures that might be acquainted to residents.

“The thought of making an surroundings that the customers can recognise led us to a contextual evaluation of the close by villages, the place we skilled the arch motive is recurring motive within the previous city squares in a typology known as a ‘bastide’,” Gregersen mentioned.

“The selection of supplies can underline the concept of the recognisable surroundings, so we once more seemed on the native supplies that the long run residents can be used to in their very own properties,” he added.

Establishing a closeness to nature was additionally key to NORD Architects’ design, with a small lake and timber in the midst of the positioning surrounded by a looping path and gardens with aromatic flowers to have a “stimulating impact”.

The Alzheimer’s Village in Dax was just lately shortlisted within the well being and wellbeing undertaking class of Dezeen Awards 2023.

Earlier healthcare tasks by NORD Architects embrace a hospice for palliative care in Copenhagen, which options golden facades and curved cutouts that create quiet courtyards.

The pictures is courtesy of NORD Architects.