Rehabilitationszentrum Vadsö

Vadsø is a small town with 6,000 inhabitants in one of the northernmost tips of Norway. Despite the harsh conditions, the local government is trying to make the windy coastal region more livable with welfare investments. One element of this is the dementia home, which provides accommodation for 19 people and offers dementia patients living with their families various activities during the day.

 The one-person residential units are 32 m2. They consist of a living room, an accessible bathroom and a storage room, and all have a balcony or terrace. The living units are strung on spacious walkways, which allow dementia patients to walk around. The building has two residential floors, and both floors have a common dining room, living room, and a conservatory. There is also a sauna and a sensory-stimulating Snoezelen room on the ground floor. On the upper floor, two living rooms form a separate closed section with continuous security. The medicine room, the office and the staff rest area, as well as the dressing rooms, were located in a section of the corridor separated from the living area.

When building the home, one of the main goals is that the house does not have the character of an institution or a hospital, but is easily accessible to dementia patients.

In the course of the project, a day care provider had to be created so that dementia patients living at home could also be offered different activities.

The creation of an ergonomic and pleasant environment in which even the nurses performing difficult and monotonous work feel comfortable was not the last consideration. There should be places where they can take a break in peace to prevent employees from burning out.