Court of Nassau: attention to detail and quality of life

Getting an errand at the grocery store? Or pay a visit to the hairdresser? Then put on your coat and step out the door, just like you used to do at home. Letting residents get moving is an important pillar of the residential concept of the brand new Hof van Nassau residential care center in Steenbergen. "We believe this reduces the demand for care."

Of course it rains sometimes. Then it might be a pity that, even as a caregiver, you can't walk inside. But the advantages of this housing concept outweigh many times over, believes Wilfried Aper, real estate project manager at care organization Tante Louise. "Our residents, most of them people with dementia disorders, can move freely around the complex, obviously only allowing them the freedom they can handle. Each resident has a smart wristband. Doors he or she is not allowed to pass through remain closed. We work with 3D beacon technology, which allows care staff to locate people on their smartphones at all times. We are convinced that movement reduces the demand for care. Experience we have previously gained at Vissershaven nursing home in Bergen op Zoom shows that medication use can drop significantly."

Choice of new construction
Three years ago, planning began for a new residential care center in Steenbergen. First, the existing nursing home De Lindenburgh, located on the same site, was considered for renovation, but that turned out not to be a suitable option. "It was an outdated building with large residential groups, double rooms and sanitary facilities in the hallway. A renovation would be too drastic and costly. But what we felt most of all: will we get what we want, and will it also be sustainable and future-proof? The answer was no: the care concept as we envisioned it, with the underlying vision of 'living like at home,' we would not be able to realize optimally there," Aper explains.

Left: Wilfried Aper, right: Hans Toornstra.

Village character
And so it became new construction. Architectural firm Inbo from Amsterdam was commissioned to translate the starting points into a design. Responsible architect Hans Toornstra: "The idea was to create a village character. Not a hospital atmosphere, not an institution, but homely and normal living. The shape of the building is therefore recognizable and countable. It is not one big complex but a collection of individual houses with facades in different shapes and colors. No "fake" facades with a flat roof behind them, but real ones with tiled roofs. And courtyards and squares that act as 'village squares'. The complex has a binary layout: you can always go either left or right. That keeps it clear and uncluttered. Few turns and short corridors contribute to that." 

Materialization and detailing have received a lot of attention. The facades are masonry, the interior incorporates a lot of wood, including in the window frames and doors, and instead of standard suspended ceilings, much nicer semi-concealed ceilings have been chosen in the rooms and, for example, the restaurant. 

View of the courtyard. (Image: Piet Pietjouw)

Lots of space
There are fifteen homes, each with its own front door: seven downstairs and eight upstairs. All are accessible only from the outside. Each home consists of eight spacious apartments of over 30 m² with its own bathroom and front door, and a large shared living room of approximately 80 m².       

To give each group its own character, each living room has a different atmosphere. The enormous amount of outdoor space is striking: there are interior gardens, balconies and flat roofs that can be used as terraces. The galleries leading to the apartments on the second floor widen and narrow to create places where people can sit for a while or meet.

Walkways connect downstairs to upstairs.

Scattered functions
The location of the general functions on the three squares is typical: the store, hairdresser, physical therapist and the janitor's workshop, among others. "You often see these clustered at the entrance in this type of complex, with the rooms behind them," Toornstra says. "Here they are scattered throughout the complex. Residents really have to get out the door to go somewhere. Often people don't dare to give this kind of client freedom of movement out of fear. I think it's cool that it does happen here. And it works: we see that residents actually do it and enjoy it." Much attention has been paid to the design of the functions. For example, the store is really an old-fashioned store with a wooden counter and stock cabinets, and the janitor has a craft workshop where residents can drop in. In the grand café, the round barista bar is a striking eye-catcher and mood creator. 

Almost gasless
Sustainability and future-proofing have also been considered. Hof van Nassau is connected to a WKO installation, which means that gas is hardly fired anymore. "In the Lindenburgh, we used about 100,000 m³ per year," Aper says. "Now that will be a maximum of 5,000 m³ are. This is necessary for cooking on gas and for supplemental heating when it really winters." 

(Image: Piet Pietjouw)

A heat pump supplemented by solar energy is going to provide the energy savings. The system heats in the winter and cools in the summer. All apartments have underfloor heating, which is individually controllable. Because light partition walls have been used throughout the building, the building can easily be rearranged in the future if the need arises.

Short construction time
Meanwhile, all 120 apartments in Hof van Nassau have been rented and there is a waiting list. After barely a year of construction time, the first residents moved into their new apartments in November 2018. "We had a very tight schedule. We had to leave the temporary housing by the end of November. Realizing a nursing home of such quality, in traditional construction and in such a short time, was a huge job. With construction group De Nijs Soffers from Hoogerheide, we had a party that is strong in realizing this type of construction. They delivered the complex on time, on schedule and in good quality," says Aper. He is proud of the final result. "This is perhaps the most beautiful residential care complex in the Netherlands."      

(Image: Piet Pietjouw)

Comfortable and familiar furnishings 

In cooperation with design agency LIVIN from Breukelen, Vervoort Meubelen had the honor of providing nursing home Hof van Nassau in Steenbergen with a comfortable and familiar interior. "Because of the smooth communication and input from many angles, this is a project we as Vervoort are very proud of," says care manager Joost Graat.

The nursing home is a completely new construction project that also includes a restaurant, store and theater/cinema. In addition, fifteen different living rooms have been furnished for the residents, on the ground and second floors. "The scope of this project was immense, because the design of all fifteen living rooms is unique. Thus they have all been assigned their own identity, their own line of furniture and their own colors," Graat said. "But not only inside was a lot of work done; outside, a comfortable terrace overlooking the beautiful water was also created. With the upcoming summer, this promises to be a wonderful and relaxing place to enjoy the outdoors."

With input from a variety of angles, there was plenty of inspiration to build on. For example, the employees of Tante Louise provided a lot of useful input. "This made the task for Vervoort Project, Vervoort Meubelen and the styling department a lot easier and more focused," Graat said. "It is great to see that with many different parties we managed to achieve such a beautiful result. The word 'proud' can therefore certainly be mentioned!"

(Image: Piet Pietjouw)

(Image: Piet Pietjouw)

All home automation in one management platform

Allowing residents to move safely and freely through the complex is an important pillar of the care concept in Hof van Nassau in Steenbergen. Polvo BV has made an important contribution to this with the development and delivery of the access control and door automation system. 

"What is unique is that our access home automation is linked with Tante Louise's care home automation in one management platform," says Wim Scheepers, project manager at Cystac, the access systems and control specialist division of Polvo BV. "Opening doors, activating alarms and locating residents: it's all possible with the smart wristband. Residents' living circles can easily be enlarged or reduced, via an app."

On this project, Polvo BV collaborated with P&L Deurconcepten. The final responsibility for supplying and installing all doors and sliding door systems lay with Polvo BV. "This allowed us to guarantee optimal operation of the access control system," Scheepers said.

Custom project kitchens

The new Hof van Nassau residential care center has a total of 44 kitchens: 29 smaller kitchen units for the apartments and 15 large ones for the communal living rooms. Tieleman Keukens from Middelharnis designed, delivered and assembled the kitchens. The choice for Tieleman came from the choice for quality and service; the kitchen specialist scored 8.9 out of more than 1,800 customer reviews.

Connection to the living room was an important requirement from client Tante Louise, says project manager Arie Cornelis Bakker. "By incorporating the cooker hood into the kitchen worktop, the care worker keeps a clear view of the room. A bar around the kitchen makes it possible for residents to enjoy cooking, but not be in danger. In terms of material, we recommended waterproof plywood, which is much sturdier than particleboard and looks nicer."

Unburdening from start to finish is the strength of Tieleman Keukens. "It starts with an appropriate design, qualitatively and within budget, and runs right through to aftercare," says colleague Bas den Besten. "For us, it doesn't stop when the kitchens are set. If there is a problem afterwards, we solve it the same day or the day after. With thirty of our own mechanics on the road, there is always one nearby." 

(Image: Tonny Pressers)

(Image: Tonny Pressers)