An urgent response to the growing demand for residential places for people with high support needs
The President of the Generalitat, Salvador Illa, has inaugurated this Saturday in Balsareny (Bages) the new residence El Carrilet, a facility promoted by the AMPANS Foundation to care for people with intellectual disabilities and mental disorders.
The new residence consists of 30 individual flats to promote maximum quality of life and autonomy. These are people with intellectual disabilities, with highly complex needs that require extensive support in their daily lives. It represents a model of comprehensive, community and proximity care, with the aim of guaranteeing the rights and quality of life of people with disabilities.
The opening ceremony was attended by the President of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Salvador Illa, the Mayor of Balsareny, Isidre Viu, and the Government Delegate in Central Catalonia, Èlia Tortolero, as well as institutional representatives, families, professionals from the organisation and residents of the municipality.
At the opening of the event, the president of AMPANS, Lluis Sánchez, highlighted the significance of this project: a long-awaited and necessary response for many families.
The president of the Generalitat de Catalunya, Salvador Illa, stated that “the best thing we can do with socially committed entities like AMPANS, is to accompany them, with resources and with all the support they need”, and announced a new call for specialised residential places in response to the commitment of the government of Catalonia with the sector of intellectual disability.
A response to an urgent need
Currently, there is an important lack of residential services specialised in the care and accompaniment of people with intellectual disabilities and behavioural disorders. There are more and more diagnoses of autism of high complexity, at infantile age, which require specialised support. The situation is aggravated in the case of young people who reach the age of majority and must leave the residential services for children, or who cannot continue in the family home due to the complexity of the diagnosis they present and the specialised attention they require.
Fundació AMPANS works with a waiting list in the Bages region of 300 people who need a place in a residence. The organisation is simultaneously working on two other projects, in Manresa and Terrassa.
Architecture designed to promote personal autonomy
The residence has been designed with criteria of energy efficiency and universal accessibility, comfort and functionality. It consists of two blocks of one and two floors respectively and a total surface area of 1,200 m², with 30 individual flats. The space has 4 living units, with spacious and bright common areas and exits to the outside with two landscaped courtyards that favour the relationship with the environment.
Each unit has its own kitchen, dining room, living room and rest areas, fostering a friendly family atmosphere. The architecture has been designed to reduce environmental stress and facilitate mobility and personal autonomy, especially for people with autism spectrum disorders or with high support needs.
It also has home automation systems that allow the environment to be adapted to individual needs, as well as sustainable solutions such as aerothermal energy, solar panels and thermal insulation.
The building has been constructed from CLT cross-laminated timber panels by a local company located in the municipality of Balsareny.