In 2025, the Italian city of Varna welcomed the Villaggio Santa Elisabetta Nursing Home—a contemporary model for elderly care that rethinks the traditional nursing home as a small village rather than as an isolating institution. Developed by Pinearq with Cooprogetti and Solarraum, the 120-bed project integrates assisted living units, healthcare services and shared community spaces organised around courtyards and a central plaza. The design combines energy-efficient, low-impact construction with a flexible, community-oriented design that supports long-term adaptability and social integration.
Location
The city of Varna is located in a valley edged by the Alps. Here, residential areas meet forested slopes, orchards, vineyards and mountainous terrain. The nursing home is designed to replicate the surrounding residential pattern with a series of low-rise volumes that open onto outdoor spaces. A central square—complete with play equipment for children—forms the main access point to the day centre and is accessible both to residents and the public. This space is intended to connect the nursing home with the wider neighbourhood by offering a space for everyday interaction.
Integration
The site is not treated as a single building sitting in isolation. Instead, the architects have created a layered landscape around it—paths, gardens and open spaces—that gradually connect the nursing home to the surrounding town and countryside. Rather than delineate a clear boundary, the design creates transitional zones where outdoor space changes slowly from public space to residential space.
“The landscape design deliberately reproduces the pattern of the surrounding apple orchards, a distinctive feature of the Isarco Valley landscape, integrating it with footpaths and equipped areas that form part of a wider urban circuit. It is not a boundary, but an osmotic space where the residence communicates with the city through a sequence of themed gardens and common areas.”
— Pinearq
Design approach
This approach to architecture takes direct inspiration from the design principles of the Kuratorium Deutsche Altershilfe (KDA), which emphasise that elder care spaces require a balance between privacy, communal living and integration with the wider community. “The basic idea is to create a domestic community, with the care and support of a nursing service, that allows people to experience security and normality,” explain the architects. The complex has 120 accomodation options, including 30 units for independent living. In addition to these, the nursing home has lounge areas and common rooms, a large kitchen, therapy and rehabilition rooms, a gym, a café with adjoining terrace, a library, and a chapel.
Sustainability
The building has achieved the CasaClima Nature sustainability certification. The project prioritises materials with high recycled or recoverable content, including timber used in internal partitions and roof construction, linoleum flooring, ceramic and brick elements and suspended ceiling systems. Overall, 6,822 tonnes of recycled materials were integrated into the build, accounting for 21% of total construction materials. The nursing home is powered by geothermal energy and a large-scale solar array.
