On 24th October, in the presence of Giancarlo Isaia, Full professor of Internal Medicine and Geriatrics at the University of Turin, the Michelin-starred chef Mariangela Susigan, Giovanni Franceschelli from the firm Rizoma Architecture and Daniele Raspini, consultant for organisations and health and social care services, who all contributed to the project, the firm Settanta7 presented COSMO, the Senior Residence aiming at defining a new standard in the senior housing sector.
COSMO is a senior residence created for over 65s, who are independent and in good health. It can accommodate up to 120 people and it embodies a new residential concept with spaces designed for the individual comfort of every resident, while ensuring a wide range of common activities.
The whole building develops on a single level, with a sinuous and quatrefoil map that creates a universe of flowing and seamless shapes, based on a distribution layout that helps inhabitants socialise.
The four foils host the housing clusters, while the centre is dedicated to the common areas, opened also to external users and structured into different functional sections: FAMILY, to meet family and friends; FOOD, the space for food; LAB, for laboratories and activities; CULTURE, a multifunctional space for videos and a library; CARE, the area for psychophysical wellbeing.
Another essential characteristic of COSMO is the fact that it is a landscape building, with a strong horizontal character that embraces the garden and creates a natural setting for outdoor activities. The concave façades with wide glass windows show the social heart of the building, while the convex façades of the housing clusters have a rhythmic alternation of vertical openings and shaped partition walls. The connection between the inside and the outside is one of the cornerstones of the project: every environment will have direct access to the green areas, while transparent roofs-domes open the building to the sky, highlighting the link with the surrounding nature.
The series of available services is integrated by some satellite volumes around the main building, such as the welcome room, the gardener’s house with the vegetable garden and the laundry room.
The housing clusters host three types of rooms (single, large with on demand bathroom and double with private bathroom) with common living rooms overlooking the gardens. In particular, the project of the on demand bathroom – which can move through an external rail and link to the suites upon request of the guests – is an excellent way to optimize the use of the spaces. Together with the satellite volumes and their hi-tech materials, it introduces a dynamic element into the external façade.
