ELDERLY CENTER HODOŠ

LOCATION
Hodoš, Slovenija

CLIENT
Municipality of Hodoš

PROJECT YEAR
competition 2008, 1st Prize
project 2009 - 2010
construction 2011

ARCHITECTURE OFFICE
Ravnikar - Potokar arhitekturni biro d.o.o.

ARCHITECTURE
Robert Potokar, Sabina Colnar, Ajdin Bajrović, Mateja Šetina

PROJECT TEAM
Robert Potokar, Sabina Colnar, Ajdin Bajrović, Mateja Šetina, Petra Slukan

PHOTOS
Miran Kambič

The Elderly Centre is located in the centre of the village of Hodoš. Together with the school and the municipal building, it acts as a catalyst for local community life, as the project includes not only residential rooms but also communal facilities intended for external users.

The pure L-shaped volume of the upper floor is finished in a red brick tone and reinterprets the characteristic motif of the surrounding roofs in a contemporary manner.

The building seeks to establish a connection with the local context, where agricultural buildings are arranged along the length of long plots, with their longitudinal sides facing the site, while residential buildings are positioned parallel to the road. Together, these structures form internal courtyards, a typology also reinterpreted in the new building. The L-shaped configuration creates an enclosed courtyard at the lower level, which merges with the surrounding landscape through the existing terrain and a redesigned meadow.

Above the rooms, the flat roof gradually transforms into an ascending mono-pitch roof. This allows the rooms to open further towards natural light, while the roof is transformed from a monotonous horizontal plane into a dynamic form reminiscent of the undulating landscape of the Prekmurje region.

The openness of the building is further emphasised by views towards the church tower across the road and the surrounding landscape. The single-loaded corridor has openings on both its western and eastern façades, conceived as frames that direct and focus the views. The corridor thus becomes more than merely a circulation space; it becomes a communal social space in direct connection with the surrounding landscape.