Long may we live!
Hilversum competition (1914) B. van de Lecq
Independent rooms
This competition for a retirement home dates from 1914 and was organised by a charity that wished to build a 'Care Home in Hilversum' for both dependent and able-bodied elderly men and women. In his competition entry, architect B. van de Lecq combined the typology of a mental institution with that of almshouses: the two most important examples at the time for housing for the elderly.
The building comprises a single storey, resulting in an enormous surface area. It houses communal facilities such as recreation rooms, day rooms, bathrooms and toilets. In additional to shared spaces, there were also to be private spaces for the independent residents, who were to be given their own rooms. This retirement home thus encouraged the elderly to live independently for as long as possible. This ideal found little resonance in the decades that followed, but in this early design grants an important role to the independence of the elderly.