Andreescu and Gaivoronschi, associated architects

Andreescu and Gaivoronschi Associated Architects

The Harmonia Retirement House, Timisoara

The Harmonia House is a private home for seniors located in Timisoara, in a residential area with other social facilities. It features a linear and rhythmic composition and is surrounded by ample green spaces, benefiting from the proximity of the Bega River.

At first glance, the distinctive features of this horizontal ensemble are its three-story height, the rhythmic loggias, and the dominant stone base extending across the ground floor.

Designed as a hotel-type retirement house, the program primarily caters to accommodation for the 3rd age, with some provisions for the 4th age, aiming to support social interaction. The facility includes rooms for medical personnel, specially designed bathrooms for bedridden individuals, socializing spaces on each floor, a welcoming area directly linked with accommodation, a multifunctional space, a multiconfessional chapel, SPA spaces with a small swimming pool and jacuzzi, dining rooms, a hairdresser salon, a barber's shop, and spacious terraces.

The friendly scale of the spaces is complemented by the warmth of the chosen materials, with wood utilized in the intermediary spaces and the multifunctional area. Wooden screens serve to protect and clearly define the loggias as exterior rooms. Stone is used on the floor and the east wall of the chapel, creating a "precious textile" that vibrates in the morning light on the floor and at dawn on the "altar" wall.