Design and build Sensory journeys
Residents’ independence plays a large role in the success of the project. Designing spaces to minimise staff intervention is key for resident confidence and autonomy. Residents tend to feel happier, stronger, and healthier when they have a greater sense of independence. Heathlands is designed around smaller clusters of 10 bedrooms, organized around meaningful places offering communal activity in dining rooms and lounges, and incorporating short corridors.
Short corridors provide ease of visibility of residents for their safety – ‘observation without intrusion’. With open-plan staff bays strategically placed on busy corners, residents can use their initiative to find their room or activity spaces while being visible to staff. The less residents rely on staff for decision making, the better for their health and confidence. To be able to find their way without having to rely on constantly asking people is empowering. With regards to wayfinding, there are
varying opinions as to what is deemed easiest to read and understand. The one thing that needs to be done is to keep signage and symbols consistent throughout the building to eliminate confusion. There are no hard and fast rules, but having symbols and not just words is crucial, as not all residents can read. At Heathlands we designed symbols for eating, gardening, toilets, etc. Industry standards require the signage colour contrast between the word or symbol and its background to have a 30-point difference. Yellow and black is a common combination, just like in airports or on the ‘Way Out’ signs in London’s tube network. The interior design is based upon the idea of a sensory journey, with a variety of colours, textures, smells, and sounds
The finishes have to be seamless and continuous and yet still include enough variety and diversity so the eye can move across the area easily without being overwhelmed
carefully accented across finishes and fittings. We designed sensory consoles with end-of-corridor seating areas for respite, which incorporate items that can be used for stimulating a particular sense such as sight, touch, smell, or hearing. These additions are simple and can be used for play; they include pinecones or wooden objects, woollen balls and blankets, dried flowers, fruit, bells, and music boxes. Resident carers often change these objects around and use themes, such as leaves in autumn, to evoke different memories and conversations – an important component to feeling connected and sharing experiences. At certain points, these activity zones also house built-in storage units with stimulating LED lighting systems – we focused on enlivening the senses of the resident. When so many other senses and faculties start to deteriorate, taste and smell tend to remain, and memory is so important to feeling connected.
To further support this, colour- coordinated memory boxes are mounted outside residents’ doorways. These memory boxes contain significant personal possessions such as photographs or trinkets, not only helping to personalise each bedroom approach, but giving residents a sense of place and ownership in their ‘home away from home’. Where possible, we like to create a route inside the building that creates sensory and purposeful experiences for the residents, often taking inspiration from the location of the care home. Plants, animals, and natural elements can be integrated into the designs, providing another layer of purposeful engagement for residents. For example: incorporating fish tanks at seating areas and green foliage as planted walls. Electric fireplaces in lounges can create a comforting atmosphere, enhancing residents’ relaxation by tapping into our innate instinct to gather at the hearth.
Colour-coded spaces
The size, scale, and placement of spaces is just as important as the chosen colours and finishes. At Heathlands, natural materials were specified wherever possible – the themes of nature played a crucial role, both for comfort and orientation legibility. Key themes, reflected in furnishings,
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www.thecarehomeenvironment.com September 2022
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