Urkers-style noaberschap

The development of residential-care complex Het Erf Urk

Building is not easy, but building with the input of four parties who will form the future resident and user group makes it extra complex. And then there is the input from all kinds of organizations from within the village community. We are talking about the new residential-care complex Het Erf Urk in the new Zeehelden neighborhood: noaberschap op z'n Urkers.

Het Erf Urk is located just outside Urk, adjacent to the Zeehelden neighborhood which is currently under construction. The total area of Het Erf Urk covers 7,650 square meters, housing three care organizations, namely Zorggroep Oude en Nieuwe Land (ZONL), Stichting Philadelphia Zorg (SPZ) and Triade Vitree. ZONL provides care for the elderly with intensive and complex care needs, SPZ has residential facilities at this location for residents with a mental disability, and Triade Vitree will start building a children's farm (De Stekplek) this fall where it will have space for day care for twenty clients. As the fourth party, housing association Patrimonium has joined in. Patrimonium is building nine homes, intended for partners of residents receiving care from ZONL. The total project includes three residential buildings, one day care building, one garden room (=home room) and 86 care apartments (43 for ZONL, 34 for SPZ and 9 for Patrimonium). On Thursday, July 4, the flag was hoisted. Then the buildings of Zorggroep Oud en Nieuwe Land (ZONL) and SPZ were officially delivered.

Win-win situations

Ellen Buurstra and Arjen Tolsma, both managers of Care & Guidance at SPZ and Hilda ten Napel, team manager at this location (homes Baron van Ghentlaan 2 & 4) for ZONL join us in the garden room on Oct. 1 to look back on the construction process. We go back to 2018. "It was quickly clear to all parties involved that we wanted to develop together," says Buurstra. "This location was a unique opportunity to pull together. It started with ZONL, SPZ and Triade Vitree. At a later point Patrimonium joined in. Getting four organizations on the same page is a job. The petting zoo that has yet to be built requires an open character. The ambition is to bring in people from the neighborhood. But the petting zoo also has added value for our target groups. And there are more win-win situations. Consider the joint action in various welfare activities of care staff and practitioners, such as physio, speech therapy and behavioral specialists who can work at both locations. The same goes for administration. In addition, you are less vulnerable because, for example, you can also exchange staff between them. But there were also legal obstacles. What about the privacy of residents if you cluster certain administrative or care tasks?" 

"It starts with trust," Ten Napel adds. "Urk is not big, so you know each other, but still there have been a lot of consultation hours and committees to get everything in line. Now, for example, we have one key system, so we can walk in on each other. It shows how we treat each other here in Urk. There you also go through the back door to your neighbors." "That is typical of Urk," knows Tolsma, who is not originally from Urk. "There is great social involvement here. Care and attention for each other fits in with that." 

Vision document

That strong mutual bond also meant that in addition to the four organizations, input was sought from local residents. Says Buurstra, "When the first plans were put on the table in 2018, we immediately asked for input from the population, churches, schools and other organizations. 'How do you view this and what should healthcare on Urk look like in the coming decades?' 

That input was incorporated into the final plans, with, of course, the ideas of care workers and, where possible, clients or client representatives providing important information. Ultimately, a vision document was drawn up, which became the basis. From various working groups, the plans continued to take shape."

Informational

One name that cannot go unmentioned, according to the trio, is that of Gerwin Vons of Vons Advies Training in Apeldoorn. He had the challenging job of getting all parties on the same page. Architectural firm SACON Architects from Zwolle translated the ideas into a design. "It is not easy to get from dream to reality. It was quickly clear that we needed professional help with that." In early 2023, Groothuis Bouwgroep from Emmeloord put the shovel in the ground. ITBB was engaged for the electrical and climate engineering work. "From the Program of Requirements, the contractor could get to work," says Ten Napel. "The construction meetings were mainly informational. Sometimes there were some adjustments, but that was more at the detail level. You can think of moving a socket or converting a door." "The cooperation with the contractor was good. We could always ask our questions," Buurstra adds. 

The economy of scale also came to the fore again when furnishing the various buildings. Tolsma: "The various institutions have their own ideas about furnishing. Of course each institution takes into account the specific requirements of the target group. A resident with dementia requires different furnishings than a resident with a mental or physical disability. But where possible, we purchased jointly and a joint plan was also drawn up for the garden."

Proud

Het Erf Urk can call itself energy-neutral. In addition to facilities such as WTW installations, the entire complex is equipped with a large number of PV panels. Tolsma: "We even have a few fake panels on the roof. If we need more capacity at a later time, we can replace them with real panels. Technically, sometimes you might go a little too far. For example, the light switches are dimmable. Not all residents understand that. They are used to an on and off switch. Nothing more." It's a detail, according to the trio. "We really had to find each other. That was hard work, but we are proud of the end result."