Resident Choice
Resident Choice must be a fundamental concept behind the design of any senior housing project. The institutional model of the past which regulated times when residents woke up, when and what they ate, what activities they were allowed to do and when they did them, and who they spent their time with, must become things of the past. In order to design communities which promote resident choice, we as architects and designers must understand the operational and staffing challenges inherit in service delivery, food service, and resident safety. We must also understand the regulatory constraints that have driven design to the institutional model, and continually work to break the down the barriers that unnecessary regulations have put upon us.
We must strive to create spaces that give residents the freedom to do what they want, when they want. This doesn’t necessarily mean that projects must bear the cost of a lot of additional square footage, but that buildings are designed with a variety of more intimate, accessible, and well furnished and decorated spaces. For example: the understanding of food delivery, commercial kitchen design, and locations of residential activity kitchens, can go a long way in allowing seniors the ability to use the kitchen as they have in their own home their entire lives.
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