Shelter
Older people are often restricted in and around the house due to their physical impairments. Both houses and apartments provide functional spaces, i.e. the physical environment for older people to perform their everyday domestic activities. However with the decrease in activity, spaces can become difficult to use and maintain. Residents sometimes have to change their use of space for convenience, e.g. store rarely needed items in Figure 2.7: Outdoor room
higher cupboards and frequently essential items in accessible cabinets; or keep regularly used items within easy reach by leaving them out on surfaces.
This reduces the usefulness of the surfaces and can induce hazardous situations. Houses can allow for adapted uses, e.g. a spare bedroom could double as a dressing room, so that residents do not have to worry about access to a confined wardrobe. However, this might be difficult in an apartment where space is limited. Houses may have to be adapted, or furniture positioned to increase circulation space for people experiencing difficulty in moving around their houses with walking frames or wheelchairs.
As well as insufficient circulation space, the doorways may be too narrow for wheelchair users. Due to physical disabilities in old age, some people find it difficult to use their existing bath and instead require a shower, although a shower may increase the risk of falling. There can also be an impact on the general upkeep of the garden spaces which can become lost spaces with the passage of time. Older people may be worried about their ability to deal with repairs and how to seek required home adaptations. However, these adaptations are significant in helping older people to cope with their physical limitations.
An apartment may be considered as alternative accommodation, but as well as a notion of small spaces (Alexander, 2002), there is a perception that apartments are set in anonymous blocks, which lose all association with the concept of home (Sixsmith et al., 2007). There are also issues about the maintenance of common spaces, which can become unpleasant and even result in health and safety problems.
Comfort
Disability in old age can limit mobility to the point where a person is unable to use the stairs in a house and is therefore confined to downstairs rooms. To maintain sufficient temperature may require heating the whole house, which could be expensive. Houses generally cost more to operate as they have higher resource consumption compared to apartments. In addition to the need for ensuring that heating systems are efficient and reliable, conversely there is a need to ensure that vulnerable elderly people are able to stay cool
in hot weather. Therefore, it is important to provide an environment with appropriate temperature and ventilation, so that the building temperature remains at about 21°C during the day, and 16°C at night, even in extreme heat and cold (Shorrock and Anderson, 1995). Background noise can affect the hearing ability of older people, and make them feel confused and disoriented (Day et al., 2000). Therefore, settings that accommodate older people should control noise transmission. Both houses and apartments can fail to withstand the unwanted noise. Particularly in the case of apartments, noisy neighbours may be found on all sides. Ideally, buffer zones should be provided between service areas and apartments, and adjacencies of bathrooms and kitchens between apartments minimise disturbance.
However, these provisions are often not achieved, as in Figure 2.8 below.
Source: Author
Due to diminished visual ability, older people require a greater intensity of light. Houses have more capacity for natural light, as apartments are generally double-banked, only allowing windows on one side. Yet there is great advantage in designs that allow windows in more than one wall (see Figure 2.9).
Figure 2.8: Apartment layout showing buffer zones
Source:
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Apartment+with+natural+light+in+two+walls&bi w=1920&bih=934&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ei=MQEgVLnjCoTYOdbogZgG&
ved=0CAYQ_AUoAQ
Spaces accommodating older people should also avoid glare, such as a brightly lit window at the end of a dark corridor. Windows along the circulation routes would not only help in providing a more even light distribution but would also offer views and connections with the outside to aid orientation and finding one’s way. Consideration should be given to providing access to external space from individual apartments including patios, balconies and terrace areas. The difficulty is that most of these issues are usually overlooked due to the economics of development, and the speculative nature of the housebuilding sector that does not cater for any specific user group.
Safety
Due to physical and cognitive impairments, many activities undertaken by older people could present potential dangers. Threats such as falling, illness and isolation could adversely affect their independent living and quality of life (Torrington, 1996). Therefore the layout and materials used for Figure 2.9: Apartment with natural light in two walls
accommodating older people should reflect safety requirements. For example, apartments should be arranged as small scale, legible and non-institutional environments. Similarly, the site layout should encourage safe, logical and unobstructed relationships from entering the site boundary to the main entrance to the building. The entrance should be well defined in its positioning and treatment (Alexander et al., 1977a). Designs should also encourage natural surveillance of external spaces and blank walls should be avoided to maximise safety and reduce the opportunity of criminal activity (Association of Chief Police Officers Crime Prevention Initiatives, 2004;
Colquhoun, 2004). Particular attention should be afforded to the common areas.
Changes in level, both externally and internally, should be avoided. If they are unavoidable, they should be clearly identified, illuminated and designed to assist accessibility for all, and the materials used should be suitable for older people. Matt finishes are preferred to glossy reflective ones (Older Persons Housing Design European Good Practice Guide, 2007). Ramps are preferable to steps but the required gradient can mean that a ramp occupies considerable space (see Figure 2.10).
Source: http://www.cmhc-schl.gc.ca/en/co/acho/acho_007.cfm Figure 2.10: Space required for ramp
To further enhance the safety of individual users, the design of houses and apartments should allow for visitor recognition, by incorporating vision panels at entrances (Weenig and Staats, 2010). Private gardens, particularly with apartments, can provide a connection between the accommodation and outside space that minimises the change in material and avoids steps (see Figure 2.11) (Alexander et al., 1977a and b; Day et al., 2000). While safety is essential, management of risk and loss of control that people have over their own lives, is a major challenge – one in which the design of safe environments should not compromise individual freedom (Burton and Torrington, 2007).
Source: Author Security
The boundary materials of and treatments to a property should be appropriate, attractive, durable and unobtrusive, and be maintained in that state. However, maintenance of outdoor spaces becomes more difficult with increasing disability and decreasing revenue. The boundary should provide Figure 2.11: Access to safe external space
meaningful enclosure without cutting off views, and should promote good natural surveillance with a secure, pleasant approach to the building entrance. Suitable methods of security could be incorporated into the entrance for both houses and apartments, as they would help to prevent entry by uninvited non-residents. Nevertheless, older people may struggle with any new technology.