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I would argue that mixed- age developments are essential to creating a vibrant community
the second phase of Meridian Water, the council’s £6bn, 10,000-home regeneration project that will be completed over the next 20 years.
Rightsizer is a ‘housing with care’ community that will provide an aspirational place to live for older people with care and support needs. By creating this, we will help Enfield to not only create a truly intergenerational community, but also to free up larger homes in the borough for use by families.
If the past few months have shown us anything, it is that the way people use space – both in their homes and on their local high streets – is constantly evolving. This is a particular challenge when it comes to creating homes for older people in a
bustling, urban setting like Meridian Water, because their care needs will change over time.
What is really important is to provide flexibility in the design of the buildings. Working with AECOM, our proposal is based around a demountable low-carbon concrete design, which can be disassembled and reused. This also means fewer materials will be used in any future reconfiguration of the building, supporting the development’s green agenda.
As well as redefining the places we live and work, Covid has also shown us the importance of community, and that is something which transcends generations. During lockdown, who can say that they didn’t miss having interactions with the people around them? With this in mind, Rightsizer also offers a whole host of amenity spaces where residents can spend time and socialise – not unlike the Build To Rent developments that are being targeted at the younger generation.
All of these are accessible, and they include a wellness club; a ‘high street living room’ which will be curated and managed by residents as well as being open to the community; and a ‘reminiscence museum’ that celebrates the history of the local area, while also assisting residents with memory loss and dementia.
But truly integrating later living into a community cannot just be about buildings and design. Working with Origin Retirement Communities, we are also creating a care academy which will aim to reposition care as a vocation, recruiting local people to train as tomorrow’s carers and creating more than 200 jobs. Older people have so much to offer our communities. And while it might take a bit of creative thinking to accommodate their needs into an urban setting, this is a challenge that we as an industry need to meet.
Rory O’Hagan is director at Assael Architecture
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ADF JANUARY 2021
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