IIDA Perspective - Fall/Winter 2016 - 30

The global population is getting grayer. By 2050, the
number of people 65 and older worldwide will be more
than double those aged 0 to 4-the exact opposite of 1950,
according to the National Institute on Aging. The most
significant gains are in Asia, where life expectancy at birth
jumped from less than 42 years in 1950 to more than 71
years today, according to the United Nations Department
of Economic and Social Affairs.
The influx of more senior citizens coupled with longer
life expectancies is forcing interior designers to change how
they approach senior living facilities. Once stereotyped as
depressing, sterile, and often lonely waiting rooms of death,
"nursing homes" are undergoing a massive metamorphosis.
"We design communities, not facilities-that's the
f-word in our office," says Dean Maddalena, IIDA, AIA,
ASID, NCARB, president of studioSIX5. Based in
Austin, Texas, USA, the company has interior design work
stretching around the world, from Costa Mesa, California,
USA, to Tokyo, Japan.
Knowing the disruptive power of baby boomers-
both as influencers on their elderly parents and as
residents-interior designers know they can't rely on the
same old practices.
"Residents have no bones about telling you what
they like and don't like in a space," says Bonnie J. Lewis,
Associate IIDA, founder of 55+ TLC Interior Design,
Scottsdale, Arizona, USA. For example, Lewis recalls
a private family dining room she recently renovated.
"Management's objective was to update the aesthetic,
make the room more inviting and less formal, and to
increase utilization," she says. "Of the 300 residents in this
senior living community, most were highly complimentary
of the new look and room usage has significantly
increased." But a few holdouts wanted to go back to the old
design, telling Lewis her design wasn't elegant, "like the old
design was."
Lewis adds that today's residents are very active and
yearn for cool-looking spaces. And that means more than
offering a place to watch the news.
"Until recently, a social or gathering space in a senior
living center might be little more than chairs and a
couple of TVs," says Melissa Powell Sheppard, IIDA,
EDAC, LEED AP, NCIDQ, senior interior designer
at Progressive AE, Grand Rapids, Michigan, USA.
"Now, designers are trying to incorporate more options
into an open common space, so there's always a sense of
life and activity."

30

perspective

iida.org/perspective

This tearoom
was designed by
studioSIX5 for
a community in
Kumagaya, Japan.

IT'S A SMALL, SMALL
WORLD-BUT...
Interior designers can certainly glean lessons learned
from other countries, but they should be mindful that
new particulars come with a new population.
In Japan, for instance, tea and bathing are both
important rituals that need to be addressed in the
design of any senior community.
In China, residents tend to be more comfortable
sharing rooms than their U.S. counterparts. But
they clamor for the better light in rooms with
southern exposures.
And then there are the influencers. "We also
have to strike a balance between a modern flow
and design that appeals to the adult children, and
touches of traditional elements that feel more
comfortable for the residents," says Nate McLemore,
managing director of Columbia Pacific Management,
which has designed three centers in China.
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