Van Haarenstaete, Mariaheide

This National Monument, established in 1912, served for a long time as a nunnery for the Franciscan Sisters of the Immaculate Conception. There was, besides the convent itself, also a nursery school and a girls’ school.

At the beginning of the 1980s a new wing was added and the convent was set up as a house for the care of elderly nuns. In 2003 VAA. was asked to investigate whether the convent was suitable for reallocation as a nursing home, together with associated facilities, for 30 clients. The resultant design took into account the history of the complex as National Monument as well as the need to provide the functionality of a modern nursing home.

The ‘Rijksdienst Monumentenzorg’ (governmental service for the care of monuments) demanded that the left and central wings remained intact. In the central wing general facilities such as a Grand Cafe, a shop and a hairdressing salon were housed. Offices and conference rooms are located on the first floor. In the right wing contains four group residences. In each residence there are 6 rooms for clients located of 20 m2 each and a common area with kitchen, dining-room and living-room.

The visual relationship between the constituent parts of the building was realised by using a striking combination of materials, a strict design and the application of alternate open and closed facades, that can be considered as a characteristic of the historic wings from 1912.

The extension does not form a threat to the historical values inherent to the building, the idiom and use of materials in fact emphasise the aesthetic values of the original building.