Sustainable housing

Villa Casimir (or ‘Huize Ernst Casimir’) in Roermond (Netherlands) is a former villa and ‘rijksmonument’ (a national heritage site) built in 1908 that was redeveloped into a futureproof care residence, while fully preserving the cultural-historical value of the building. In October 2020, after little more than a year of renovation works, the villa opened its doors again for 18 elderly people requiring continuous care.

At the start of the redevelopment, the villa had a G-rated EPC (Energy Performance Certificate), which meant that the building’s energy consumption was very inefficient. Following Aedifica’s redevelopment investments, Villa Casimir received an A rating, indicating the building’s consumption is ‘most efficient’. The building and its installations are now futureproof, fit for the current generation and the next, contributing to the continued improvement of the sustainability of our real estate portfolio.

• We restored the villa’s unique characteristic elements to their former glory: high windows, wooden beams, French doors and stained-glass windows were preserved under the supervision of the heritage department.
• Solar panels were not installed to preserve the villa’s historic look. However, our all-electric approach provides the opportunity to use green energy and to accommodate new technological developments.
• We improved the insulation of the building’s roof, walls and basement floor. Windows and doors were fitted with the appropriate insulating glazing and equipped with sun blinds.
• During the redevelopment, we decided to install low-temperature heating instead of the initially planned high-temperature heating. We ensured that it is possible to switch to an individual heat pump or collective district heating at a later stage.
• We installed individual ventilation type C+ instead of collective ventilation type D, in order to ensure good air quality and circulation, the importance of which was again demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic. We have also anticipated the possibility of installing an E+ ventilation system in the future, allowing to recover the heat from the air outlet for low temperature heating and/or hot water production.
• We also paid special attention to a barrier-free environment for the residents and installed a high-performance cooling system to cope with increasingly frequent heat days.

Following Aedifica’s redevelopment investments, Villa Casimir received an A rating, indicating the building’s consumption is ‘most efficient’. The building and its installations are now futureproof, fit for the current generation and the next.
Raoul Thomassen, COO

The Martha Flora Rotterdam care residence in The Netherlands is intended for the care and housing of people with dementia. The care residence allows residents to live in a safe and secure small-scale environment.

This new purpose built three-storey care residence, consists of 29 care units varying in size from approximately 45 m² to 72 m². The care residence’s special feature is the ‘Meander’. A ‘Meander’ is a unique and central space, specially designed for people with dementia. It accommodates a place to eat, meet, organise activities and welcome families. The ‘Meander’ consists of a library, a living room, a kitchen, a garden/roof terrace and a workshop and offers direct access to the spacious and peaceful garden. By applying this concept, the care residence provides a sheltered environment where you can feel safe and serene, which creates comfort and contributes to the wellbeing of the residents.

Furthermore, the care residence has five couples units and a hospitable guest room is available for family and guests to stay.