Architectural Design

EDEN ALTERNATIVE

Hamburg, Germany · 2024

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Architectural Design

Design barrier-free elderly housing that prioritizes wellbeing and engagement with nature.

Elderly CareSustainable HousingBiophilic DesignWellnessInclusive Design

LocationHamburg, Germany

FunctionSustainability and wellbeing

Plot11,800 sqm

Year2024

Project Sections

Section

Context

Contemporary elderly housing has long prioritised efficiency over experience — providing safety and basic care while overlooking the deeper dimensions of what it means to live well.

In Hamburg, a city of remarkable green infrastructure and strong social culture, this project asks a different question: not how to house the elderly, but how to sustain them.

The World Health Organization defines health as "a state of complete physical, mental, and social well-being — not merely the absence of disease." This project takes that definition seriously.

Section

Concept

Three principles shape the design: biophilic integration, barrier-free inclusivity, and the Eden Alternative philosophy.

biophilic design is not decoration — it is the structural logic of the project. nature is not placed beside the architecture; it is woven into it, creating a continuous experience of relaxation, reflection, and grounding.

inclusive design accommodates users with different abilities and needs not as an afterthought, but as the founding condition of every spatial decision.

Section

Programme & Services

The programme is built around four pillars of holistic care — each positioned to support a different dimension of elderly wellbeing:

◈

Activities & Clubs

Dedicated spaces for group activities, hobby clubs, and creative workshops that sustain social engagement, purpose, and daily rhythm for residents.

social engagementsense of purposedaily rhythm

⬡

Social & Multifunctional Spaces

Flexible gathering spaces that support both intimate encounters and community events — allowing the complex to function as a village, not an institution.

community lifespontaneous encountervillage atmosphere

◎

Medical & Wellness Center

An integrated medical centre, spa, and pool that treat health proactively — placing wellness at the centre of daily life rather than at the edges of emergency.

preventive healthphysical therapyholistic treatment

✦

Nature & Biophilic Integration

Active and passive biophilic strategies — planting, water features, natural light, ventilation, and views — woven throughout every zone of the complex.

psychological restorationbiological healthsensory richness

Positioned at a considered distance from the housing, these services create a gradient of public life — drawing residents outward into engagement rather than confining them inward.

Section

The Experience

The Eden Alternative concept is grounded in a single insight: that what the elderly most need is not clinical care, but a life worth living.

The design creates a village-like experience — familiar in scale, warm in material, generous in nature — that allows residents to relate back to memory and feel genuinely at home.

The result is not a care facility that contains nature. It is a landscape that contains a community — one that heals not through treatment, but through living.