Cittadella dell’Accoglienza in Riva del Garda: A Domestic Model for Assisted Living

Transforming historic architecture into modern, functional facilities is a major challenge in the health and social care sector. The product of collaboration between Euro Project engineering consulting and Cino Zucchi Architetti, the Cittadella dell’Accoglienza project in Riva del Garda is an innovative example of healthcare architecture that centers on people and their well-being.

Architecture that melds health, comfort, and sustainability

Much like school architecture, which defines space as the “third educator,” Riva del Garda’s new assisted living facility is a “space that heals.” This project, which saw two firms redevelop a former hospital as a residential care facility, is model architecture that integrates health, comfort, and sustainability.

Located in picturesque Riva del Garda, Cittadella dell’Accoglienza was designed to effectively integrate with the local context while pursuing the idea of a single, multi-faceted facility able to respond to a range of diverse social and care needs. The entrance, for example, frames the facility’s community and healthcare functions, balancing functionality with a connection to the outside environment.

A new healthcare facility for a community

A key element of the project is community and the ability to create internal spaces that contribute to the psychological and physical well-being of its 60 aged residents and staff. The arrangement of its spaces – including a central courtyard, looped circulation systems, and numerous community areas – promotes interaction, breaking the mold of traditional care facilities to create a caring home environment.

The project’s architectural quality lies in its capacity to balance its operational, building-services, and safety elements with comfortable, functional patient areas. Bedrooms, bathrooms, and indoor circulation areas have been designed to aid the mobility of the elderly residents and use strong, antimicrobial materials that are easy to sanitize and automated systems with low energy consumption. The objective was to create environments that, while ensuring functionality, are also familiar and therapeutic, integrating them with sustainable management that places the building on the path to LEED Gold certification.

>>> Discover a new hospital in Andria designed by Cino Zucchi Architetti in collaboration with Binini Partners