Medieval-inspired French village is designed specifically for Alzheimer’s patients

In the village of Dax in southern France, a new kind of treatment center is taking shape. Landais Alzheimer is a village designed specifically for people with Alzheimer’s, and it’s an optimistic view of how treatment facilities can feel more like a home than a hospital.

Nord Architects via The Spaces

Designed by the Danish studio Nord Architects, the 80,000-square-foot area is effectively a small town. The village will house 120 patients, 100 live-in caretakers, 12 volunteers, and a team of researchers who will approach the treatment center as a testbed for alternative Alzheimer’s care.

The space itself will be reminiscent of the medieval fortress villages the Landes region is known for. Residents will be grouped into a series of four “residential neighborhoods,” which will each include shared houses, a supermarket, health center, salon, farm, and library. The goal is to create a sense of community and familiarity for the patients by orienting them with a sense of direction and visual cues.

According to French newspapers, the village will have a research center that will focus on comparing Landais’ treatment with that of traditional institutions as a way to measure how effective this new, immersive form of care really is.

According to The Spaces, Landais Alzheimer is expected to cost roughly $34 million (primarily funded by the government) and open by the end of 2019.

Via: The Spaces