CONCEPT
The Romo Intergenerational Center is conceived as a pioneering social infrastructure addressing two major contemporary challenges: population ageing and youth emancipation.
Promoted jointly by Azpiegiturak (Diputación Foral de Bizkaia) and the City Council of Getxo, the project proposes a hybrid residential model where seniors and young people coexist in the same building while maintaining partially independent programs. The facility integrates:
- 100 residential places for elderly people with dependency needs, organized in small co-living units of approximately 20 residents each, designed to recreate a domestic scale environment.
- 40 public rental apartments for young people, aimed at facilitating the first stage of independent living.
The architecture articulates both programs around shared interaction spaces that encourage everyday encounters and social exchange between generations.
A central courtyard and collective areas function as spatial catalysts for intergenerational interaction, while terraces, gardens and urban agriculture areas extend social life towards the exterior.
The building rises five storeys (ground floor, four levels and attic) and integrates with the urban fabric of the Romo neighbourhood through the creation of a new public square and active ground-floor spaces.
Beyond its architectural dimension, the project represents an innovative social model at the European scale, designed to combat loneliness among the elderly while fostering solidarity, cooperation and mutual support between generations.
REFERENCES
https://www.getxo.eus/es/desarrollo-urbanistico-sostenible/patrimonio-vivienda/centro-intergeneracional
https://www.bizkaia.eus/es/web/comunicacion/noticias/-/news/detailView/22737
https://www.azpiegiturak.bizkaia.eus/index.php?Itemid=195&id=781&option=com_content&task=view
https://www.geriatricarea.com/en-marcha-el-centro-intergeneracional-de-getxo/https://www.europapress.es/euskadi/noticia-getxo-pone-disposicion-diputacion-bizkaia-inmueble-albergara-nuevo-centro-intergeneracional-romo-20230207175234.html