Senior Living Can Shine Post-COVID With Safety-Focused Designs
COVID has changed everything; but it also has given senior living communities an opportunity to shine and show themselves as innovators.
Whether you’re constructing new buildings or retrofitting existing ones, there are some safety and security features that are likely to attract residents, particularly with COVID fresh in their minds.
Increasingly, seniors will be paying attention to the architectural features that will keep them safe and reduce their risk of infection if there is an outbreak. However, they also will seek design elements that maximize their ability to live, socialize, and engage in their favorite activities without fears of spreading germs or catching illnesses.
Among the most appealing features:
Redesigned dining spaces with barriers, more sparse indoor seating, and greater availability of outdoor seating. Eliminating bar and counter seating is another important measure. Having clearly marked one-way entrances and exits for both residents and kitchen staff also is useful. Keep kitchens and food prep areas at a distance from dining spaces to avoid possible contamination.
Emphasis on touch-free features. From keyless entries to hands-free faucets, hand sanitizers, and entrances, reducing the risk for contaminating surfaces will be key. Watch for innovations such as voice-activated elevators and auto-cleaning UV systems.
Strategies for retail store safety. Many communities have onsite convenience stores, coffee shops, and other retail spaces. Specific measures to enable residents to shop while staying safe include carefully installed translucent shields between employees and customers at checkout; electronic payment terminals closer to customers and away from employees; clear signage and visual cues (such as floor decals}; and the use of touchless hand sanitizer stations in multiple locations.
Rethinking public seating. Instead of benches or chairs along halls and walkways, having sitting or waiting “nooks” scattered throughout public areas is an evolving trend.
Design to maximize safe socialization. The isolation caused by the COVID quarantines has taken a toll on just about everyone. Design can help reduce isolation and loneliness, even during a pandemic, with features such as patios, balconies, and porches; outdoor spaces that allow for socialization and physical distancing; and windows that allow for views, bring in light, and enable residents to feel connected with the world around them.
Use of antimicrobial building materials in wall panels, countertops, etc.
Of course, before you dive into design and building, it is important to conduct some planning and risk assessment. The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has developed a seven-step risk management plan that can help you determine what specific steps you should take:
Assemble the multidisciplinary team, including CEO, CFO, administrators, department heads, and other stakeholders.
Establish goals and objectives for reducing risks. Identify goals to reduce virus transmission and outbreaks. This might include creating/maintaining isolation rooms, breaking living spaces into smaller neighborhoods, or eliminating or reimagining spaces that encourage large groups to congregate.
Describe the building flow and user experience. Draft a detailed description of all functional uses of the building.
Conduct hazard analysis and characterize the potential risk. Identify and characterize all risks, including biological (contamination), physical, chemical, and psychological.
Identify architectural or engineering controls for each hazard.
List protocols to verify that controls are being maintained.
Assess whether controls are performing to meet design intent.
More than ever, building design and retrofitting will have a focus on how people behave in public settings and how to enable them to enjoy quality of life with greater personal space and attention to cleanliness and safety in the world around them. At Pi we are already looking ahead to the post-pandemic world and thinking about how we can help our clients design the best spaces for residents in this new normal.
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