Increasing ageing of the population leads to new insights about nursing and elderly care. Thus, hospitals and nursing homes are becoming increasingly integrated into their surroundings, in an attempt to contribute to a high quality spatial context. The OCMW of Lokeren wants to anchor its care campus in the city centre. Through a design competition, VK and Probis were appointed to coordinate the programme and environment of the campus and create a master plan, including a strategic vision of care, technical and financial aspects and phasing.

The campus comprises the AZ Lokeren General Hospital and the Ter Durme Nursing Home. First, the organisational functioning of the whole as thoroughly analysed. 2 basic ideas resulted from these analyses: the need for an enhanced care differentiation, and the continued guarantee of a more general provision of services. This was developed into a realistic spatial plan, on the basis of general set of requirements, which dealt not only with the actual implementation but also the infrastructural accessibility and integration of the campus into the urban fabric. A feasibility study proposed a new hospital and renovation of the nursing as the optimal solution. A communal square was designed that would connect the two into one symbiotic whole.

VK and Probis approached the ambition of its client in an integrated manner, with a master plan which bundled all boundary conditions in a balanced manner.