Tučapy Senior Home

CTU in Prague - Faculty of Civil Engineering

Project idea

The Tučapy Senio Home is located in the South Bohemian village of Tučapy, near a castle and a park. As part of the pre-diploma project New Center Tučapy, the town square was completed and new spaces were designed in the area to serve both seniors and the local community. The building includes departments for standard senior housing, specialized care units, and small-scale apartments for seniors, all in the required capacities. The public has access to the on-site dining hall and laundry facilities. The building has an H-shaped floor plan. Its four protruding wings are connected by a central corridor. This layout creates courtyards and desirable visual connections to both the castle and the park. On the roof of the connecting corridor, a park is designed, bridging two floors and leading to an old chimney located in the park. Green façade panels visually integrate the building into its natural and local surroundings.

Project description

The project aims to make full use of the beautiful surrounding landscape and offer views into the park through the orientation of facades and visual corridors between building parts. Residents can walk in the park or spend time in one of the courtyards or the central atrium. For clarity, the building is divided into five parts — sections A, B, C, and D, connected by a corridor (section E), which serves separate functions and features a roof park with ramps. The building has a simplified H-shaped floor plan. Its four sections are placed at the corners and elevated above the corridor. The part closest to the chateau „reaches out“ towards it with a raised corner and a folded roof, which is partially green and partially covered in standing seam sheet metal on its sloped surface. In addition to the park roof, three of the taller sections also feature green roofs. Plants grow along the façades in a planter system, referencing the nearby park. Another facade material is striated plaster, whose simple linear patterns echo the modest character of a senior care facility. Sections of the building accessible to both residents and the public feature a glazed curtain wall; some of its panels are insulated and plastered, helping to unify the building’s appearance. The section closest to the chateau is connected to it via an underground corridor that leads to vertical circulation near the chateau entrance.

Technical information

The building has a simplified H-shaped floor plan, with sections A, B, C, and D located at the corners, connected by a narrow section E. Sections A, B, and D have 5 floors, while sections C and E have 2 floors. The ground floor (1st floor) is partially recessed into the terrain. Sections A, B, and D have flat roofs, section C has a pitched roof, and section E features a park roof with ramps that starts at the level of the 3rd floor and ends at the level of the 1st floor.
Section A is built using a combined structural system with reinforced concrete columns. On the ground floor (1st floor), the walls are made of reinforced concrete, while the upper floors use ceramic masonry blocks. Sections B and D use a predominantly wall-based structural system with localized reinforced concrete columns. The ground floor walls are made of reinforced concrete, and the upper floors are constructed from ceramic masonry blocks. Sections C and E utilize a reinforced concrete frame system. The floor slabs and vertical circulation cores are made of reinforced concrete. In localized areas between columns, beneath the load-bearing walls of the upper floor, the slabs are reinforced with reinforced concrete beams. The ceiling structure beneath the sloped part of the roof in Section C consists of a coffered beam ceiling made of reinforced concrete.
The building is designed to be energy efficient. Reduction of energy losses is achieved through sufficient thermal insulation, triple-glazed insulating windows, and a ventilation system with heat recovery. Heating is provided by a ground-source heat pump and a backup electric boiler. The building incorporates recycling of greywater and rainwater, with excess water infiltrated directly on the site. Photovoltaic panels on the roofs generate electricity, supplemented by power from the public grid.

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