Aomori, Japan
Sakura Home is a nursing home project in Mutsu City, Aomori prefecture, situated on the northern edge of Japan’s main island. The project is a reconstruction of an existing, multi-bedroom nursing home that was built approximately forty years ago.
Fundamental to the project is the consideration of the nursing home employee. During daylight hours, one staff member is responsible for ten residents (one unit), while at night, one staff member is responsible for twenty residents (two units). To enhance circulation, each two patient units are connected to a nursing staff station, allowing each staff member to have timely, efficient responses to twenty patients at once. This defines a planimetric radial layout with a resemblance to five flower petals. This form acts as a reference to the “sakura”, a native Japanese flower, and provides the name for the facility.
This project is in collaboration with Naoyuki Shirakawa Atelier.
