Savant Zorg, Compaen and Dutch Design Foundation are launching Co/Lab: Samenredzaam Mierlo-Hout. In this trajectory, we explore how design can contribute to a new way of living together — one where care is not only provided by an organisation, but created within the neighbourhood.
The context: a new village heart in the making
In Mierlo-Hout, a village within Helmond, a new village centre is emerging on the site of the current residential care home Alphonsus: Dorpsplein Mierlo-Hout. Around 220 apartments will bring together people with and without care needs, living alongside and with one another. One in three homes is intended for people without a direct care need. It is deliberately more than a construction project — it is an investment in a different way of living together.
The design question
How do we create a community where residents, neighbours and care naturally support one another?
The challenge
There is a pattern that can stand in the way of community building: as long as care organisations take on everything that residents and neighbours could do themselves, space for ownership disappears. Not because people are unwilling, but because the system has never asked them to take that role.
Collective self-reliance requires a shift in both behaviour and mindset. How do you, as a resident, view your own agency? How do you, as a neighbour, understand your role? And how do you, as a (care) professional, define what it means to care well? That is the question this Co/Lab aims to activate.
Want to know more or apply? Visit the Co/Lab.