Architecture for retirement and nursing homes, hospitals, medical practices and clinics
Health and age
The design of nursing homes and homes for the elderly, doctors’ offices and hospitals is special to us for many reasons. As architects, there is a great sense of purpose in these projects where life and limb, but also dignity and respect are at stake. great sense of purpose. Everything we plan, design and build from our offices in Berlin focuses on the person in need of care, the sick or the elderly .
we design architecture
Von der Planung für Unternehmen bis zum Wohnungsbau: Die preisgekrönten Berliner Architekten von OOW designen, entwerfen und gestalten sowohl Hochbauten wie Innenräume. Kraftvoll, fokussiert und mutig.
No contradiction: high requirements and beautiful design
The architecture creates a quality of living that is really needed. For example, when we build a home for the elderly, we mean this literally: Our architecture creates a real home for elderly people – a place to feel at home. That makes this work a matter close to our hearts. Not least because we can combine what is particularly important to us: meaningfulness, attention to detail as well as high-quality and refined design.
Our strength in architecture for nursing homes, homes for the elderly or even hospitals is to integrate the stringent building law and technical requirements into beautiful design. A classic, purely functional wheelchair lavatory in a retirement or nursing home does not exist in OOW’s architecture! What we design instead are pleasant rooms with details that bring joy every day to the residents and staff of homes, doctors’ offices, hospitals or day care facilities. An example of this are handrails that are not simply screwed on, but are part of the wall cladding – this is how we combine functionality with high-quality design.
Over the years, we have developed a specialisation in the field of old age and health allowing us to plan and build model medical facilities throughout Germany from our base in Berlin. Architects from OOW have designed various retirement and nursing homes for the Augustinum Foundation: for example, the senior citizens‘ residential home in Kleinmachnow, where we converted a café into a showcase model for the care of dementia patients.
Modern architecture makes life easier for patients
Near Bonn, we designed the new construction of a sanatorium for dementia patients with 80 beds. What’s special: With its modern architecture, it protects the privacy of the patients and makes it easier for them to find their way around – as with the other projects, we have consistently taken the users’ point of view. The same applies to a clinic in Tutzing for patients suffering from burnout.
Sebastian Blancke, OOW CEO
How can doctors work best in an emergency department?
In the emergency room of the Bundeswehr Hospital in Berlin, the users are primarily the doctors – and ultimately, of course, the patients, who benefit when the medical staff are able to work smoothly. In the implementation planning, for example, we not only combined the complex issues of building physics such as sound insulation and fire protection with the requirements of a hospital. Here, too, it was important for us to design seemingly small details such as the positions of the door switches in such a way that the medical staff would feel comfortable working here. How do we know their preferences and needs so well? As with every project, we talk to them in great detail – and also research innovative solutions in Germany and abroad.
Conversions involving the preservation of listed buildings
The stringent building law requirements in this segment can also result from regulations concerning listed buildings – a challenge that we are happy to accept. This was also the case at Luisenplatz in Potsdam, where we converted three old buildings with flats and offices into a modern, medical centre that is accessible to persons with disabilities and has 15 light-flooded surgeries – all of which was done in close coordination with the heritage protection authority.
