Interior design
certain styles of chair fit better within operators’ new rigorous hygiene routines? In the years that I have been working in this sector, performance fabrics have continued to improve. While vinyls still absolutely have a role to play, the softer touch more domestic style waterproof and anti-microbial upholstery fabrics from companies including Panaz, provide designers with scope to create comfortable and inviting schemes that are also safe and easy to maintain. Panaz’s Shield Plus technology attracts microbes, i.e. such as viruses, fungi and bacteria, and destroys them on impact and is effective against coronavirus.
Shackletons, which has been handcrafting both traditional and contemporary healthcare furniture for senior living since 1959, says its understands one of its main priorities is to provide safe and inviting surroundings for residents, staff and visitors. “All our healthcare fabrics have anti- microbial properties as standard, and the specification of our polishes and lacquers provides protection against 99 per cent of bacteria commonly found on solid surfaces,” says Shackletons sales director Joseph Ullman.
“We design our furniture with great thought and attention to detail. As we move forward, we believe clients will continue to require well-designed and comfortable furniture, alongside providing customers with the most up to date hygiene options across our products.”
Communal areas and bedroom design
Many care homes these days comprise a series of communities each with their
own lounge and dining area yet all have a degree of access to larger communal areas elsewhere in the home, a cinema room being one such example. Will these ‘communal’ communal rooms be something we see less of?
Lockdown has also thrown a spotlight on the need for resident bedrooms to be well designed. Many new build care homes have French doors rather than windows for their ground floor accommodation, opening out to communal gardens.
During lockdown, from what I saw on social media, for some operators these types of bedroom have enabled relatives to visit and see loved ones through the glass and as restrictions have eased, doors have been open and garden visits have been possible. Will these rooms be in greater demand now?
Speaking to Sue Earrey, owner of Tulip Care Environments, which works with care home developers to achieve superior home environments, it was interesting to hear that during lockdown she spoke to a number of operators who
fed back that purpose-built homes are faring well with no expectations of major design changes for new projects. Sue added that including more adaptable spaces - especially on the ground floor - and the use of enhanced technology seemed to be the future focus, to cope with similarly life-changing events such as the current pandemic in the future.
Flexibility is certainly king. Homes need to be able to adapt to suit the needs of residents at any given moment and accommodate care teams to look after those taken ill, all in a way that protects the rest of the people living there. Sue went on to say that she is seeing operators taking a mechanical and technology-based approach to dealing with future outbreaks. The upside of which is operators are seeing a reduction in the usual spread of germs and viruses and are learning lessons from enhanced monitoring, cleaning and visitor regimes.
Staff accommodation In some homes, staff accommodation might need more consideration. During lockdown there were many examples of selfless carers living away from their own families for weeks, some camping in the grounds of the home so that they could look after residents as safely as possible. Creating restful, easy to live in environments for care teams to retreat to is now - to me - more important than ever. I see far too many staff areas painted white, harshly lit and furnished with mismatched furniture left over from other parts of the home.
Instead, there should be a calming colour palette, nicely appointed showers and bedrooms, warm toned and layered lighting, as well as thought applied to making the stay as easy and comfortable possible.
When being asked by private clients to design their guest rooms in their homes,
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com • November 2020
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