NORD Architects . 3RW Arkitekter . photos: © Adam Mork
The new dementia village in Oslo, Norway – ‘Furuset Hageby’ – is designed to answer the future demands of age-related care and living by creating continuity in life and avoiding the experience of being in an institution. With recreational gardens, open everyday functions such as a hairdresser, restaurant, culture house, grocery shops, and dementia-friendly design the future residents will live in a familiar and homely village environment, and the caregivers are given an attractive workplace. With an increasingly large group of elders who are affected by dementia, there is a need to innovate and rethink our healthcare services and facilities.
Furuset Hageby is an example of how healthcare architecture has a key role to play, as the physical environment can improve the well-being of people with dementia and create a good work environment for caregivers. “Furuset Hageby is designed specifically for elderly with dementia and the main goal has been to enhance their quality of life and care experience by designing a nursing home that feels more like a home in a village community and less like an institution”, says Johannes Molander Pedersen, architect and partner at NORD Architects.
Dementia-friendly design
Furuset Hageby is designed to resemble the life and appearance of a traditional village community where the 112 residents can move freely to give as much agency and freedom as possible in a safe environment. “The architecture is based on a village concept with the intention that the residents should be able to enjoy life in a community with care, activities, and recreational green spaces”, says Sixten Rahlff, architect and partner at 3RW Arkitekter. The buildings offer spatial variations and connections between outdoors and indoors, allowing residents to choose the level of social contact according to their abilities. A village street threads through the cluster of buildings, connecting to a culture house, a hairdressing salon, a doctor’s office, a restaurant, a shop, a library, an activity room, and a gym studio, where both residents and people from outside the village can meet and form communities. The design is based on principles of dementia-friendly design, where materials, surfaces, daylight, and acoustics are selected to achieve a balance between aesthetics, sensory qualities, wayfinding, and operational benefits.
The green rooftop garden, the sensory courtyards, and the village street – A green and sensory outdoor environment has come to characterize Furuset Hageby, a name that translates to ‘FurusetGardenvillage’. With its main design feature, a series of buildings shaping three interwoven courtyards, the buildings sit gently in the landscape, adapting to the site’s high variation in terrain heights, and providing space for green outdoor areas that run throughout the village. The looping rooftop garden creates a comforting continuity for people with dementia, ensuring that they always get safely back to their starting point. The rooftop garden has plenty of vegetation, herb gardens, a greenhouse, and a lounge area.
Sustainable “FutureBuilt” project
Furuset Hageby is a “FutureBuilt” project that is designed to provide new, inspiring standards for future sustainable and inclusive architecture. FutureBuilt is a Norwegian innovation program that combines social sustainability, environmental initiatives, and architectural qualities, to showcase a wide range of innovative, completed projects.’Furuset Hageby’ is certified ‘BREEAM Excellent’, utilizing building materials with a low CO2 footprint, reduction of hazardous substances, as well as achieving net positivity.
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