Cordaan

Zuidoever is the first location of De Oevers, a new residential care concept by Amsterdam-based care organisation Cordaan. Zuidoever residents are elderly people with dementia or severe somatic conditions. Zuidoever breaks rigorously with the existing building tradition of care and nursing homes. It is a building with a high-quality appearance that puts people first. It does not shut up the residents - who are in the final phase of their lives - but embraces them with warmth. It combines care with a high quality of life, which also leads to a lower demand for care. The building offers comfort and privacy, as well as contact with the outside world and fellow residents. A life as much as possible as the residents were used to, in an accommodation that adapts to them rather than the other way round. A key tenet of Zuidoever is keeping residents active. Research shows that this leads to better quality of life and more efficient care because active older people stay ‘well’ and happy for longer. The building is designed to facilitate and encourage this. Tangram not only designed the building but was also responsible for the interior. This was a big wish, as such a demanding living environment works best when there is an integrated approach. This creates an optimal sequence of experiences of the building. The ideas from the design could therefore be transferred to the interior.