RETIREMENT AND NURSING HOME
Schiers, Switzerland
2025

Collaboration: Studio Zaluska + Gilbert Berthold     
Type of Procurement: Preselected competition, 2025 – 5th prize
Location: Schiers, Grisons, Switzerland
Consultants: Landscape Architecture: Iris Tijssen, Atelier TP; Structural Engineering: Dr. Kevin Rahner, Schnetzer Puskas Ingenieure Fire Protection: Yves Schmitter, Schmitter Brandschutzberatung; Renderings: Robin Archive

The new building for the Schiers Retirement and Nursing Home is conceived as a mediating structure between the village scale timber architecture along Dorfstrasse and the larger scale of the hospital campus. Through its perpendicular orientation to the street, its placement along the western boundary of the site, and the articulation into three staggered volumes, a welcoming arrival courtyard is created with clear spatial relationships to the village, the hospital and the existing retirement home. The building appears both as part of the surrounding neighbourhood and as an autonomous element within the campus ensemble.

The complex consists of two residential buildings connected by a central communal structure. Five nearly identical living clusters, each with ten rooms, establish a clear and efficiently operable organisational system. The central connecting volume forms the communicative heart of the building, accommodating the entrance, vertical circulation and shared facilities. The internal organisation encourages encounter, orientation and age appropriate movement, comparable to the spatial structure of a small village.

The typical floors follow an established dementia friendly principle with continuous looped circulation and no dead ends. Folded corridor walls create transition zones in front of the rooms, strengthen a sense of belonging and soften the rationality of the structural layout. Daylight, views, courtyards and places to pause structure everyday life, while materials such as timber, linoleum and warm colours create a domestic atmosphere.

The ground floor is transparent, flexible and defined by its public character. In addition to reception, cafeteria and administration, public programmes such as an education centre, hair salon and underground parking are integrated, allowing the building to participate in neighbourhood life. New paths, squares and open spaces connect the building with the hospital campus. A roof garden, courtyards and landscaped outdoor areas provide therapeutic, ecological and social qualities.