Scheldehof & Kop van het Dok
Scheldehof & Kop van het Dok
Scheldehof & Kop van het Dok
Elderly housing provides new life at De Schelde shipyard
Transformation: from shipyard to residential care center
When client WVO Zorg was looking for new housing, the municipality of Vlissingen offered one option: the Scheldt site in the port. The former shipyard housed the disused Heavy Plate Factory, a huge factory and one of the city's heritage icons. A residential care center does not seem to be the most logical destination for a dilapidated, former factory warehouse, but WVO Zorg saw the potential of the giant building and the location on the edge of the center of Vlissingen, and therefore chose to renovate and expand the building. Atelier PRO was responsible for the redevelopment, the new building and the interior.
“The central starting point of Scheldehof's design was that it should be more than a building, but a place where residents are pleasant to stay and where there is something to do; a nice environment that ensures that people come to you, and at the same time heals a part of the city. A building that cares about the city,” says Dorte Kristensen, architect director atelier PRO.
De Plaatwerkerij: industrial heritage in the heart of Vlissingen
De Zware Plaatwerkerij - an industrial 'box' of around 37,600 m3 in size - was in a very bad condition and therefore had to be completely stripped, except for the steel frame and roof. From there, the building was rebuilt, reusing as many original elements as possible - such as the huge steel doors, the supports and the indoor crane. For the replacement masonry, we deliberately looked for a stone that matched the original appearance of the factory hall, where, for improved light, we opened the outer walls more. The ground floor houses a restaurant, studios, a cinema, a theater, a hair salon and retail spaces, surrounded by the 120 rooms of the somatic and psychiatric patients. The colossal, dark and dilapidated building - where some of the current residents still worked - has been transformed into a vibrant place for all residents of Flushing.
Industrial details in a new interior
The closed façade of the Plaatwerkerij has been broken open, with brick making way for a lot of glass, and the old industrial doors have also been opened and filled with windows. For example, the former factory hall has been transformed into a transparent and inviting building from the outside and inside. A corten steel gate on the dock side serves as the main entrance to the care complex. Inside, three floors of houses and voids have been added that hang like separate pieces of furniture in the huge space. All public functions are located on the ground floor; the restaurant is directly visible from the entrance, and offers a mix of seating options and garden views. The general atmosphere is industrial, interspersed with blond wood, warm colors and oases of green; preserved details such as the indoor crane and steel columns have been kept in sight as much as possible.
A residential care center where people live together in their own place
The Plaatwerkerij houses the homes for residents with a somatic disorder — people who are chronically ill and will therefore stay in Scheldehof for a longer period of time. For this group, it is important to design more than just a place to live, but especially a place to meet each other, in order to prevent loneliness. That is why there is a wide living room area between the houses that offers space for 'lazy' seats, a fireplace and a living room table; for the interior, we also opted for an alternation between warm and industrial: blue steel elements with a cool look are used alongside soft, wool-covered armchairs. In addition, for the feeling of home, it is also important that residents can really “make their own” their own place. That is why the houses are spacious - with plenty of storage space for people to “have and keep” - the color palette has been kept as neutral as possible - so that residents can set the mood themselves - and there is plenty of space for personal items and art in and around the houses.
New construction: architecture on the scale of the city center of Vlissingen
The psychogeriatric patients - mostly people with dementia - are housed in the new building, which is also used for independent living without care; this setup ensures social traffic and liveliness in the building. To reinforce the iconic image of the Plaatwerkerij, the new building used contrasting materials with a more traditional look and feel. Old masonry techniques have been used in the facades, and the dimensions are also smaller, as a nod to the old city center. As a result, the new building fits well into the environment in terms of appearance and scale. Here, too, all functions on the ground floor are publicly accessible.
Designing for people with dementia
In order to support the residents with dementia as much as possible, the psychogeriatric department looked for a setup that is intuitively recognized. That is why each home - shared with 8 people - is arranged as much as possible like a normal house, with an entrance, a (shared) living room, a kitchen and eight bedrooms, each with its own bathroom. In total, there are six of these types of houses, each with its own character. The six houses are spread over two floors and surround a winter garden, an indoor space with an outdoor character: people reach their homes via the winter garden, and they also sit there in their “front yard” or on their balcony; residents can also walk safely and sheltered among the greenery here. All homes are internally connected to the service functions.
“This is the future of elderly housing”
After its completion in 2018, Scheldehof was named the Care Building of the Year by Architectenweb:
“The spatial and stimulating environment is completely different from what you would expect from a residential care center,” the jury enthuses. “The location of the building, with all these functions in the plinth, supports the connection with the neighborhood and the city. These elderly people are not hidden in the green, but part of urban life [...] When older people have to move to a residential care center, it is still too often a step backwards,” the jury notes. “But then this... living in an awesome old building, in the middle of the city, with all kinds of facilities in the plinth that can also be used by the city. That last place you live, that's supposed to be a party, right? That's this!”
Kop van het Dok: apartments from social housing to owner-occupied homes
After the renovation and extension of the Plaatwerkerij into a Scheldehof residential care center, atelier PRO also designed the adjacent Kop van het Dok apartment complex for WVO Zorg. The project consists of three 17-story residential towers on a 3-storey continuous plinth. Kop van het Dok, which is linked to Scheldehof, is adding 180 'ordinary' homes to the complex, which are partly arranged in such a way that care can be provided, and which consist of a mix of social rent, middle rent and owner-occupied homes.
From 'non-place' to landmark for Vlissingen
Because of the plinth, despite their height, the towers fit well with the public space and the surrounding, lower buildings of the city center of Vlissingen; the two outer towers “rise” from the plinth, while the middle - and highest - jumps back slightly. In this way, the plinth and the towers together form a varied whole. As the name suggests, the complex is located at the front end of the historic Dokhaven. Until recently, the street scene here was defined by the backs of shops and a parking garage with mint green fences. The new buildings hide this desolate 'non-place' from view and give the dock a visual closure that matches the size, scale and history of the former shipyard. At the same time, the towers also function as a 'marker' for the Dokhaven. In terms of scale, they are in line with the high-rises along the boulevard - but they also refer to the impressive, industrial skyline of Vlissingen of the past, when the ships at the shipyard towered high above the old city center.
Take care of the city
With the completion of Scheldehof and Kop van het Dok, a whole new part of the city around the old shipping dock has been created, where all residents of Vlissingen - young and old - can feel at home. The Scheldekwartier offers a diversity of homes for an older target group, from homes where people can live independently to homes for people who still have a lot of care - in the middle of society.
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