Some nursing homes can be given a second life as residential buildings for the elderly. Not living in a care building, but receiving care in a residential building. That is the design task. The study Living without care(s) explores this task on the basis of concrete pilots. The findings are interesting for anyone who values a sense of home in a large-scale environment. The care home as an intermediate form between a nursing home for heavier care and independent living forms for seniors seems to be disappearing. In recent years, many homes have had to close their doors. Some nursing homes can be given a second life as residential buildings. Seniors can then rent their own rooms there, regardless of their care needs. The form of financing is changing, but so is the identity. There is no longer care with residence, but rather living with or without care. In addition to an administrative operation, this change is therefore also a design challenge. How do you turn a care building into a residential building? Why does one building lend itself better to this than another? To find out, a number of concrete cases were examined. The insights gained are not only applicable to former nursing homes. The principles formulated can be taken into account in the design and layout of residential buildings for the elderly. However, the urgency of vacant nursing homes proved to be the ultimate condition for bringing the various stakeholders, expertise and perspectives around the table. The studies produced concrete advice and variant studies for the commissioning care providers and corporations. Moreover, the methodical approach made it possible to formulate more general conclusions from the sum of these explorations. These findings can be traced to a number of needs and associated requirements, ranging from urban location to the design of nameplates.