Address
Düsseldorf, D

Client
Diakonie Düsseldorf
Duesseldorf, D

A setting with sacred and social dimensions

The church in Düsseldorf helps look after the physical and mental well-being of the city’s inhabitants. A sacred building together with multi-storey ancillary facilities and the nursing home form the welfare and social services campus, two sides of which are flanked by streets lined with houses. The church, which is set at an angle to the run of the road, underlines the significance of the building and its location. The tall interior with its stepped shear-walls for the light wells is reminiscent of an old, basilica-style church, as are the entrance and the gallery. The deep, illuminated coffered ceiling and the artificial light can be regulated to generate different light moods. The autonomous stereometry of the church creates a feeling of peace and quiet which matches the purpose of the building. A sense of community combined with individual contemplation link the sacred building with the nursing home in an expression of social sensitivity.
In planning terms the main task was to break with the old type of anonymous ‘institution’. The 90 single-room units are distributed over three floors in a U-shape. Fifteen units make up a reasonably sized residential group with its own kitchen and communal living room. The care rooms are situated in a connecting wing. As is the case in the church, the residents decide how they wish to lead their lives. The design of the building is such that residents can choose between different types of residential atmosphere. Some rooms face the street, while others are grouped around the inner courtyard with a view of the fellow-residents. The quietest rooms are those immediately next to the campus.
A definite sense of familiarity is created by the painstakingly arranged clinker brick facades. On the inside the different colours and their intensity help the residents to recognise which rooms they are in. The carefully coordinated planning helps them to feel at home in a social welfare setting.

Gerneral Contractor
Köster AG Niederlassung Essen
Essen, D

Planning
be Lochau
Lochau, A

Project Architect
Michael Gondert

Competition
2002

Placement
1st Price

Site Area
6.393 m²

Area of Building
2.656 m²

Gross Floor Area
10.605 m²

Net Floor Area
4.986 m²

Building Volume
33.067 m³

Commencement Of Planning
2005

Commencement Of Work
2007

Completion
2009