The description says it all: fit and alert individuals who have passed the 50 threshold are nowadays often described as Silver Agers or Generation 50 Plus – and certainly don't look old. Never before have senior citizens been so mobile and full of life.

But then there is also a second group: elderly people who are no longer in a position to look after themselves, either because they are too weak or too sick or simply confused. The number of such people is growing all the time; their needs increasingly vary. This represents a great challenge for society – and for HOCHTIEF.

For decades, the company has been involved in creating environments for living in. Today, HOCHTIEF employees also contribute to enabling members of the older generation to live out their lives in dignity. In this field, there are two different approaches: the house community model and the traditional old-age care concept.

The house community model: Living life as usual

What distinguishes a good nursing home? It's a place you would let your own parents move into when they are no longer in a position to look after themselves. For instance, homes for the elderly developed in line with the house community principle.

HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung has set up a special unit to focus on such establishments. The company's Senior Housing branch has teamed up with BeneVit, which provides services for the elderly, to create homes in line with the house community model. This enables HOCHTIEF to combine its know-how as a leading inner-city developer with the wide-ranging experience of an innovative nursing home operator.

One principle applied in homes of this kind is to maintain as much normality as possible in the lives of those who live there. This makes it important for the occupants to play an active role in shaping their day-to-day routine. But of course only as far as they want to and feel able to.

The concept: What shall we cook today?

In homes created in line with the house community model, the emphasis really is on the word "community". The homes are divided into self-contained apartments, each occupied by twelve to 14 people, who continue to run their own lives. This includes all household tasks, such as getting together to cook the meals. In this, they can always draw on the support of trained staff.

Scope is, of course, also made for the most serious of nursing cases: elderly people who are no longer able to participate in all activities. Homes run in accordance with the house community models are open to all senior citizens.

In this way, HOCHTIEF creates environments in which life is really worthwhile. Helping older people to follow their own regular daily routine strengthens their independence. After all, one thing is clear: elderly people who don't have anything to do all day long lose the will to look after themselves and tend to need nursing care earlier than others.

There is evidence for the benefits of the house community model: whereas 20 percent of the occupants of conventionally run homes fall into the highest nursing care category, in the homes realized by HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung in cooperation with BeneVit, the figure is just five percent.

The locations: Alternatives for small municipalities

In collaboration with BeneVit, HOCHTIEF has already developed five homes in line with the house community model. At present, the projects are realized mostly in smaller municipalities. One example is Haus Blumenküche in Mössingen near Tübingen. In such places, the demographic structures are more aligned to family life than is often the case in larger cities. When people here grow old, they prefer to live with others they know, in a familiar environment.

But there is another important reason for this choice of location: in small towns or large villages, the local authorities deliberately opt for a specific concept, frequently because they only have one nursing home. The local policy-makers also want to make sure that the home in question blends in with the rural setting. And after all, even mayors probably have their own particular ideas on how they would like to live when they are older!

Concepts of this kind are not restricted to small towns, though. They are also quite feasible in larger cities or population centers.

The traditional approach to old-age care: Focus on the human side

Concepts for homes for senior citizens function only if those involved – investors, planners, developers and operators – regard the future occupants as the most important aspect of the project. That is definitely the standpoint taken by those HOCHTIEF Projektentwicklung employees who are concerned with the development of urban quarters.

In cooperation with the Senator Group, the fifth-biggest operator of old-age residences and care establishments in Germany, HOCHTIEF is already completing its second project: the Am Stadttheater nursing home right in the middle of the city of Hagen.

Projects of this kind are based on the traditional approach to care for the elderly and so they differ from the house community models, with a greater focus on the provision of optimum nursing care. Here too, though, great importance is attached to ensuring genuine living quality and enabling the occupants to remain as self-sufficient and independent as possible.

Day-to-day life in the nursing home: The scent of oranges in the hallway

In traditional nursing homes, too, HOCHTIEF follows the principle of ensuring that occupants can enjoy a worthwhile life. A friendly and respectful attitude towards the elderly is essential so that older people can maintain their dignity. One aspect of the modern therapeutic approach employed here is integrating the biographies of the occupants into the nursing concept.

This is particularly important for people who suffer from dementia. Such patients tend to live increasingly in their own past – and this is something taken into account in the way the homes are furnished.

Wallpaper and furniture from the 1950s and 60s help to create a familiar – and non-menacing – environment for the occupants. Differing color schemes in the individual living units enable dementia sufferers to find their way around better. Particular fragrances with a stimulating or calming effect are a frequent feature of such homes – such as the re-assuring scent of oranges in hallways and corridors.

Demographic change: A challenge for the future

According to estimates by Deutsche Bank Research, there will be some 1.5 million people living in care and nursing establishments in Germany by the middle of this century. The figure today is just under 700,000. This means that in just the next 13 years it will be necessary to build up to 3,000 new homes for the elderly. The number of people suffering from some form of dementia is also set to increase rapidly. The figure today in Germany is 1.2 million; by 2020, this is likely to rise to 1.4 million, and by 2050 to total more than two million.

So there is no doubt that the demand for places in nursing and care establishments will continue to grow. But HOCHTIEF is interested in more than mere growth and so it steers clear of characterless "off-the-peg" old people's homes. Instead, the company sees itself as a good corporate citizen and is committed to working with partners who apply innovative concepts in order to achieve sustainability. Only in this way can such homes be what they are meant to be: places where the elderly can live out their lives in dignity.

A look back: Dormitory-style homes are now part of the past

Huge dormitory-style homes for the elderly are now a thing of the past, because occupants and their relatives were no longer prepared to accept them. Gradually, increasing emphasis was placed on the quality of life in homes for senior citizens. Today's homes represent the fourth generation in this development and are geared to concepts which improve the situation of older people.

Up until the late 1960s, dormitory-style rooms, occupied by up to twelve people, were the accepted standard. Later came the trend to single rooms, but these were often located in large, unattractive buildings, frequently with up to 300 beds, and the focus was on making work for the staff as easy as possible, with procedures similar to these in hospitals.

Everything was as streamlined as possible, for instance with meals for everyone all being served at the same time: breakfast at 7 a.m. lunch at midday, supper at 5 p.m. Not much thought was given to what the occupants did during the rest of the day. Often, the motto of the operators was: fill them up and keep the place clean. Then came the 1990s and some notable improvements, with the trend to smaller establishments with a maximum of 120 beds, and to residences which were also architecturally impressive.