Socio-medical residential center for older adults in Techirghiol

Authors’ Comment

The aging population brings to the forefront the need to rethink spaces dedicated to senior care. In Romania, many existing residential care centers operate in buildings adapted to new requirements or follow institutional models, in which medical care often takes precedence over the quality of living. In response to this context, the project proposes an approach in which care is integrated into everyday life, while autonomy, comfort, and social interaction become essential principles of spatial organization.
Located on the outskirts of the balneal resort of Techirghiol, near the lake and the Botanical Garden, the center is set within a natural environment with therapeutic and recreational potential. The site, covering approximately 20,000 sqm and featuring a 12-meter level difference, has informed a strategy for integrating the architecture into the landscape. Rather than being treated as a constraint, the topography becomes a design tool: the volumes are partially embedded into the slope, following the natural contours of the terrain and reducing the visual impact of the built environment.
The complex is organized into four slightly offset volumes arranged along a circulation axis. Their positioning and the varying distances between them create a sequence of outdoor spaces with different degrees of intimacy, dedicated to gathering and social interaction. The accessible terraces accommodate the changes in level and transform them into a continuous route, establishing a connection between the complex, the Botanical Garden, and the lake. The roofs thus become an active part of the outdoor environment, while moving through the complex becomes an experience immersed in nature.
The idea of an “inhabited park” defines the relationship between architecture, nature, and community life. The landscape is not conceived as a backdrop, but as an integral part of everyday experience—accessible and inhabitable. The protected external walkways, located along the residential wings, extend the living spaces of the rooms outdoors and allow residents to move independently, meet, and take part in community life. Circulation becomes more than a space for movement, transforming into a place for interaction and direct contact with nature.
The functional organization seeks to balance community life with the need for privacy. The program is structured into three main zones: public spaces, permanent accommodation, and temporary accommodation for seniors and visitors. Permanent accommodation is organized into small-scale units grouped according to residents’ levels of dependency. Each unit functions as a small community, bringing together private spaces and shared living and dining areas in an arrangement that fosters a sense of familiarity and maintains a domestic scale. Medical and rehabilitation facilities are discreetly integrated into the complex, ensuring easy access without dominating the living experience.
By making use of the site’s topography and articulating a sequence of indoor and outdoor spaces—public, semi-private, and private—the project seeks to redefine the residential care center for seniors as a living environment rather than merely a care facility. The “inhabited park” thus becomes a setting in which architecture and landscape support autonomy, a sense of community, and a natural connection with the environment.