An endless ring as a structural principle
Long-Term Care Home for People with Dementia in Iceland
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No one gets lost here: At Loop Architects and Urban Arkitektar’s care home in the small Icelandic municipality of Árborg, everything revolves around the circular floor plan. This makes spaces manageable and satisfies the residents’ need for exercise while preventing them from losing their way in the building, for they will always end up “back home” – that is, at their own doors.
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At the same time, the design clearly separates the inside from outside. Outside: this means the surrounding landscape, onto which the 50 rooms open up via loggias. Among other features, the view here encompasses the Ingólfsfjall mountain and the Ölfusa, one of Iceland’s largest rivers. Inside: this is the courtyard at the centre of the ring. It has been designed as a multisensory landscape.
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In this area, the ring shape gives way to smooth, cubic building volumes with facades of wood and glass. They represent the home’s communal areas and therapy rooms, including areas for physio and occupational therapy.
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Exposed concrete and wood are the predominant indoor materials; the latter gets its dark colouring from Icelandic volcanic ash. The wood was imported from Norway and is FSC-certified.
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According to the architects, all the surface materials inside bear the Nordic Ecolabel, which proves their environmental compatibility. Altogether, the building has been awarded the Breeam Very Good rating.
Architecture: Loop Architects, Urban arkitektar
Clients: Isländisches Gesundheitsministerium, Gemeinde Arborg
Location: Selfoss (IS)
Structural engineering, building services engineering: VSR ehf
Landscape architecture: Holmsteinar ehf
Fire prevention: Mannvit hf
Contractor: Eykt hf
Environmental consulting, BREEAM: EFLA hf
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