Reception centre, Apeldoorn

If the care lavished on the design of a new multi-focus reception centre in Apeldoorn is any guide to the building's operation, the future looks bright for its eventual users: homeless people, drug addicts and clients of the mental health care services.

The programmatic set-up, whereby three separate institutions, each specializing in a particular target group, will operate in a single centre, breaks new ground. As does the concept behind the centre, which is not about shelter per se but rehabilitation, a fact that finds literal translation in the architecture of the building: a public passage through the Omnizorgcentrum is a physical and social link between the centre's residents and the wider society.

The construction of the centre is part of the redevelopment of Apeldoorn's harbour area. This section of the inner city connects the station precinct – which is also being completely revamped – to the canal that runs through the city. It is all part of the larger Canal Bank project masterplanned by architect Rein Geurtsen.

Within the framework of this large-scale regeneration of the city centre, the council was keen to find a way and a place for tackling a public nuisance problem affecting the station area and a number of parks. To this end and at an early stage of proceedings, the council approached FBW Architecten, founded in 1988 by Belinda van Buiten and Antoni Folkers, then based in Tanzania. Since 1992 they have worked from a second office in the Netherlands; the African office and a branch in the United Kingdom are now headed by Geoff Wilkes, Paul Moores and George Ssendiwala. Although they are still involved in ongoing designs (including hospitals and schools) in Africa, the accent for van Buiten and Folkers now lies with the firm's Dutch projects.

The council deliberately decided to build the Omnizorgcentrum in the area where its prospective clients normally hang out. After careful consideration, FBW settled on a large plot between Stationsstraat and Korte Kanaalstraat as the most suitable location. The two-sided orientation and the length of the plot allowed for a spacious courtyard in an otherwise fairly closed block transected by a public passage. Furthermore, the fact that most of the other buildings in the area are apartment blocks, made it possible to preserve a certain distance between the neighbours' front doors and the residents of the centre.

The latter is an indication of the fine lines the architects had to negotiate and explains the thinking behind the route they have laid out inside the building: on the one hand separating the clients from the neighbourhood, on the other hand bringing them together.

The 'hang-outs' that are a source of nuisance on the streets have been located in the courtyard. Three courtyard elevations, constructed of steel and glass, are conceived as hanging gardens. The fourth, translucent (south) elevation is washed by a constant stream of water that dampens the noise (to and from the street).

A link with 'normal' life is made on the street side of the building's transparent, extra high ground floor which will contain project and studio spaces for residents, such as a launderette, a bicycle repair workshop and a flower stand.

The residential areas are reached via the courtyard. In the central hall in the inner angle of the building, a staircase spirals upwards for four storeys, past the communal day and night reception areas, a safe injecting room, a hostel for socially disadvantaged groups and temporary bedsits.

Although the building has been slotted very precisely into the site, it has not been tucked away unobtrusively between the neighbouring buildings. While the closed character of the upper floors matches that of existing development, the sculptural shape of the street elevations ensures that the building detaches itself somewhat from its surroundings. This principle is repeated at the level of detail: in the window openings coloured louvres are fixed in a half-open position, a gesture that offers on the one hand protection (privacy for both residents and neighbours), and on the other the prospect of an independent existence and a better future.