Elderly care is a hot political topic in Flanders, amid the approaching ‘silver tsunami’ of aging babyboomers. POLO Urbanism has been actively researching emerging challenges and trends, identifying topics such as societal integration and programmatic interweaving of care, downscaling and multiplication, diversification and clustering… These concepts signal a move away from a homogeneous, one-size-fits-all approach towards a more patient-centric model.

The highly personalised care model of Iona currently finds its spatial expression in a loose grouping of buildings set in a rural landscape. POLO Urbanism devises a framework for future growth that takes root in this idyllic setting with which it is so intimately entwined.

Over the past years we have seen a renewed interest in our Flemish villages from various quarters. Writers, policy-makers, planners and designers have brought to life a refreshing and optimistic debate on a typology that some considered obsolete, ill-equipped to answer today’s challenges. At POLO Urbanism we believe in the transformative power of the small-scale village tissue, and find the timeless qualities of village life are ripe for a reappraisal; we do so through a radical but sensitive proposal that grows out of a particular context, injecting life back into the village of Steenhuffel.

In the Dutch city of Enschede a large plot of land is poised for a radical overhaul. Its scale and strategic location represent an opportunity to make a real impact on the city’s functioning. In close collaboration with the municipal administration, POLO conceives an ambitious urban plan that ties together disparate neighbourhoods and plants the seeds for a city-wide modal shift.