Challenge

Amphora VZW in Wingene (Western part of Flanders)is a residential care center and a part of the GVO-group which consists of 9 care centers in West Flanders and distinguishes itself by having a tradition of unique hospitality: Every guest gets treated with the best care, warmth and attention. This treatment, given with great expertise and humanity, is key in the daily workload of its employees. Bulvano and Amphora VZW share the same values regarding the maximization of quality in the services they provide. The renowned English architects Sergison Bates did an astonishing job regarding the creation of a replacement of the former care center into a stunning multi-use bulding.

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Solution

The materials and colors which are used regarding the furniture are specifically chosen in order to give the environment a modern look and feel. Bulvano likes to add that little extra sparkle to create an atmosphere which expresses warmth and the feeling of being welcome. Bulvano envisioned a colorful place which breaths creativity and vitality. With this idea in mind, Bulvano and Amphora VZW collaborated and concluded on a magnificent result.

Home is not a place.. It’s a feeling

Result

When entering the building, visitors and inhabitants do not feel the known atmosphere from a residential care center but the feeling of entering a warm community. Bright lights and light colors are to be found in every corner of the building due to the extraordinary structure of the building. The furniture chosen by Bulvano and the client is not the type of furniture you would expect in a care center! It really makes you feel like home. This project is to be considered as a leading example of residential care centers of the future.

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(more info regarding the architect of this project’s building:

http://sergisonbates.com/en/projects/care-home-wingene)

http://www.gvo.be/

Pictures: Kristien Daem

Challenge

‘Solidariteit voor het Gezin’ is a non-profit association and with a workforce of 7000 it is one of the largest players in Belgium’s care sector. To reflect its vision of integrated homecare, the association wanted its first retirement home in West Flanders (Ostend) to be a real care hotel. Besides offering senior citizens top-level care, the client wanted to create a high-end living environment with furnishings to match. Timing and budget were strict requirements in connection with delivery of the project.

The result was a totally atypical interior style for a retirement home.
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Solution

Bulvano drew on its extensive experience in the care sector. Together with the client and the well-known architect firm Buroll, we assembled a multidisciplinary team to give optimum substance to the uniqueness of the building in the shape of a boat, with walkways affording views of the Ostend Hippodrome and the Wellington Golf Course. The same goes for the interior: Bulvano helped to create the spatial plan and thanks to its international partners completed the furnishings in a very short time with high-end furniture appropriate to the ‘hotel vision’.

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Result

The result was a totally atypical interior style for a retirement home. Residents and visitors enter the care hotel through a tastefully decorated lobby and even younger generations feel at home in the 98 rooms. The overall experience differs hardly at all from the identical adjacent building with luxury apartments. The only difference is that the rooms here are provided with modern high/low beds and other facilities appropriate to the needs of older people, yet without any reference whatsoever to a traditional retirement home. This allows the senior citizens to follow their own pace of life in style, just as they did in their former home.

Challenge

More and more local hospitals in Belgium are merging in order to increase efficiency. In Ieper this resulted in the creation of the Jan Yperman Hospital, with some 1000 beds and roughly the same number of staff. As part of this major project Bulvano was entrusted with implementing the office, conference and general seating furniture. Quality, maintenance-friendly, ergonomics, sustainability and ‘homely’ were imperatives. The client also required conceptual brainstorming with the architect.

Jan Yperman Hospital already stands as a model project in the hospital sector.
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Solution

Since 2009 Bulvano has been cooperating closely with the architect firm Boeckx whose clients include 30 of the roughly 70 Flemish hospitals. A new hospital campus is built in phases over several years. An important USP of Bulvano is its ability to gear stocks flexibly to this situation thanks to its international partners. Whenever a wing is opened, it is possible to deliver the furniture without delay. Our in-house team of interior architects constantly exchanged ideas and above all solutions with the lead architect, enabling unambiguous definition of the requirement of a homely atmosphere.

Result

Even though life cycle cost is crucial in the care sector nowadays, Jan Yperman Hospital has anything but the often impersonal look and feel of countless other hospitals. To assure an optimum work environment for the staff we delivered more than 750 chairs and tables, always blending in well with the patient furniture that already numbers 3500 items. Thanks to the use of a cleverly conceived array of colours, there is now a hospitable hospital for patients, employees and visitors alike. Jan Yperman Hospital already stands as a model project in the hospital sector.