Meester Visserhuis the Hague , the Netherlands 2004 - Present

The Meester Visserhuis in The Hague commissioned Rietveld Architects to design the nursing home for aging patients and apartments for the elderly. The nursing home was relocating to a new location in an urban environment. The new complex needed to fit in a square lot and provide pleasant outside space, a view and privacy. Rietveld Architects designed a U-shaped three level building for the 30 room nursing home and an apartment tower of 36 apartments on eight levels. Under the complex is a parking garage. Outdoors is a peaceful, private garden. A wall encloses the space with windows that enhance the connection to light and life within and outside the courtyard. The private living spaces are placed on the second level. This is to insure that every room has a view outward towards the garden or the bustling neighborhood life. The higher the apartment or room is located the more varied and wider the view. The apartments have individual balconies while the nursing rooms have large windows. In some places large windows combine to create small bright rooms that project out. There are seperate entrances for the nursing home and the apartments. On the ground level is a community sitting room and a pool. Part of the ground floor is rented to a day care facility adding a vibrant and lively element to an otherwise stately and peaceful atmosphere. Although the Meester Visserhuis expressly offers housing for the elderly, here there is medical care as well. A unified building is created through combining different shapes and functions. The vertical line of the tower imparts height and dominant horizontal lines in the complex as a whole give the building visual stability. Text: Lucas Ligtenberg