FELT architecture & design proposes a solution that carefully considers the building's perceived scale, seeking a harmonious blend with its surroundings through a carefully crafted, ambiguous roof. The rear section, with its gabled roof, provides a fragmented expression that makes it easier for residents to identify their home within a large residential community.
The building houses several living units organized around bright, communal spaces with garden views. Its architecture combines a compact volume, a discreet palette of light materials, and a domestic scale to promote orientation, tranquility, and the daily lives of residents within a protected green environment.
Care Villa – De Hees by FELT architecture & design. Photograph by Olmo Peeters.
Project description by FELT architecture & design
An existing villa forms the starting point for the transformation into a care home for people with mental health challenges. Stripped down to its bare structure, the house loses its roof and finishes, revealing the simple logic of parallel walls. This structure becomes the framework for a new plan, where a generous corridor connects a sequence of independent studios.
The same concept is extended in a new wing that houses a second commune. Together, they form a double residence, each accommodating eight inhabitants under one roof. The project explores the delicate balance between collective care and individual living, a perpetual tension at the heart of care architecture. Towards the street, the building presents a unified front. At the rear, a rhythmic series of gabled roofs unfolds, each marking the scale of a private room. This repetition creates a layered reading of the building: a cluster of small houses gathered into one collective home.
A restrained palette of light grey materials grounds the building in its green surroundings. Brick, slate and finely detailed joinery share the same soft tonality, with even gutters and downpipes absorbed into this muted spectrum. The calm contrast allows the architecture to settle into the landscape while maintaining a clear, confident presence. The form follows the same quiet discipline. Generous, rhythmic openings frame views of the garden, while the horizontal composition lends the building a composed, almost solemn character.
A subtle shift in the façade plane keeps the volume familiar and helps the ensemble integrate naturally into the villa district. The result is a gentle house: clear in structure, measured in expression, and thoughtfully attuned to the people who will call it home.
