Antwerp's OCMW has formulated a strategic care policy which focuses upon residential and care facilities for the elderly in the district, whereby homecare and residential services are attuned to one another. The aim is to make each district 'lifetime durable' through the provision of a large variety of care forms ('care continuum') and integrated as far as possible into a single site ('residential and care centres'). In order to realise this ambition, an expansion of existing capacity is needed in certain districts and in other districts relocation is required.

The Gitschotelhof rest and care home (Lodewijk Van Berckenlaan) is located in the south of the Borgerhout Extra Muros district and is urgently in need of renovation in order to raise living comfort levels. In accordance with our strategic care plan, it has been decided to retain the existing capacity of this institution (current capacity 182 recognised residential units) and to convert the site into a fully-fledged residential care centre. In addition to the planned renovation of the rest and care service flats, the Gitschotelhof is also large enough to provide space for day care, short-stay accommodation and a local services centre.

With this new residential-care centre, Antwerp's OCMW is primarily targeting those residents of the Borgerhout Extra Muros district and the closest parts of the adjoining Berchem Groenenhoek and Deurne Zuid districts who are in need of care. Most elderly people in the Borgerhout Extra Muros district live in the most northerly neighbourhood (Collegelaan, Morckhoven) and the most southerly (Lodewijk Van Berckenlaan, which includes the Gitschotelhof site). The Gitschotelhof site offers opportunities for expansion in a district where there are few other opportunities for development. This therefore makes it a logical location for the development of a residential and care centre. In addition, the building of a residential and care centre is needed even more in the south of the district if one looks beyond its borders. If the Gitschotelhof was to be removed, there would be a very large region without any care infrastructure.

In this initiative, Antwerp's OCMW is also targeting the neighbourhood in which it is located. The OCMW wants to open up the residential and care centre to the district even more. The inhabitants of the service flats, volunteer carers and certainly the local services centre and its users are capable of bringing about a dynamic between this care centre and the local neighbourhood. The OCMW is not opting for a separate campus, but instead an 'integrated' one for the elderly which forms an architectural whole with the wider surrounding area.

Research will also be carried out into whether an inter-generational project can be established with other care providers in the district and whether joint ventures with other neighbourhood-focused initiatives can be developed.

The present brief includes the drawing up of a master-plan for this district, to form the basis for the concrete realisation of this vision. The aim of the master-plan will be a district-orientated fulfilment of the brief and will determine the sub-division of the stage of implementation.

The brief includes the drawing up of the strategic master-plan for care in the district. At a subsequent stage, following approval, the master-plan will be translated into a number of implementation-orientated projects. The design team may be eligible to take on part of the project itself, depending upon the design and the available budget.

After this strategic care plan has been delivered, the client may decide to allocate all or part of the briefs for the realisation of the buildings and/or open space provided for in the strategic care plan, without any additional competition, to the design team that drew up the plan. The client is not obliged to do so, however. He may also decide to allocate the subsequent briefs to third parties, but then there must be a new tendering process. In this case the creator of the strategic care plan will be given the task of supervisor. If the strategic care plan does not lead to any further work, its creator is not entitled to any damages.

Architecture min 6% and max. 8% incl. VAT
Stability: min 6% and max. 7% incl. VAT
Technical installations: min 9% and max. 10% incl. VAT