French retirement home proves pink isn’t just for Millennials

A new retirement home by Dominique Coulon & Associés is bringing colour to the lives of the elderly in France’s Alsace region.

Overlooking the river Rhine, the Huningue retirement home has a ‘woven’ appearance thanks to misshapen and irregular brick work. Huge glass facades provide sight lines through the three-storey building, grounding it in the landscape and promoting a feeling of openness to reduce stress by flooding its spaces with natural light.

Interiors meanwhile combine red concrete with pink terracotta surfaces and wooden finishes to create a soothing, natural palette.

The 4,000 sqm complex comprises 25 individual 50-sqm homes for residents which are set around communal areas including a restaurant, computer room, hobby workshop, a vegetable garden, and a boules green.