Interactive senior home renovation project
Interactive Elderly Home
This is an elderly home renovation project for Yan Chai Jockey Club Care and Attention Home in Hong Kong. Cooperated by a team of designers from multiple disciplines, the proposal suggests improvements through interior and environment, products, communication and the use of technology. My focus is on a 4-1-4 living module named Interactive Household, aiming at promoting the elderly’s interaction with fellow, staff,
family, volunteer and device to achieve a healthy and joyful life in the attention home.
Client /
Yan Chai
Jockey Club Care and Attention Home
Role /
Floor planning, product and experience design
Team /
Chui Ka Yan
Cheung Kat Fu
Chau Chung King
Year /
2015
Site Visit
Site visit in Yan Chai Jockey Club Care and Attention Home are conducted for primary reseach.
Corridor
In the current spatial design, the corridor is in a linear setting which makes it a rather dull and miserable dead space. There is a lack of an opening for natural lighting and liveliness.
Bedrooms & Bathroom
Although bedrooms are currently differentiated into 2-bed, 3-bed and 4-bed room types, there appears to be no difference for different rooms. The lack of personal characteristics of residents in terms of room settings failed to provide a sense of belonging, it is difficult for residents to gain home-living feelings under such condition.
Common area (multi-purpose room and PT room)
The current multi-purpose room is an enclosed area for social activities, yet residents are not eager to communicate with each other under this environment. Family gatherings can only be held here with low privacy. The physiotherapy room is also an enclosed area for exercising, yet the design is not motivating.
Interview
Interview with both the elderly and vice-president in the care and attention home is aiming to collect information of current situation.
Living-room side
The living-room side of the cabinet is mainly colored in white and yellow, storing entertainment materials like chess, board games, magic cubes, magazines and newspaper.
Bedroom side
Looking from the bedroom side, some units are painted in soft bluish green. For basic storage, each resident has a clothes press and drawer at an accessible height for wheelchair users. Storage for the use of staff is also taken into consideration.
Research & Analysis
Existing Plan Analysis
As this project is an alteration based on the existing building services system on both second floor and third floor, here below are diagrams showing the existing elderly house functional and space organization.
Master Plan Proposal
Living Module Proposal - Interactive Household
Interaction Analysis
As most of the elderly may have limited physical abilities, instead of requiring more inputs from them, the design should output more in a non-intrusive way to promote interaction. Three main interaction categories are elderly-elderly interaction (fellow interaction within 8 people module), elderly-staff/family interaction (interaction with other kinds of people) and elderly-device interaction (interaction with devices, including personal and module information).
Renovation Design
Having an overview of the interactive household module, it is an eight people community with all the basic demands: bedrooms with toilets including shower room and washing machine, a living-room with pantry and nurse station. The module offers various interactive opportunities and levels, creating more flexibilities in different situations and better connection with staffs and residents.
Interaction Wall
Two interaction walls are specially designed to improve interaction.The two wooden interaction cabinets break through the walls between bedrooms and living room, keeping the basic usage while also creating more interaction possibilities.
Information System
For each resident, a touchscreen is set above the bed so that they can have facetime conversation with their family and access information of himself, the module and the whole nursing home. The function of contacting other fellow residents for games and staff for medical care are also available. For game playing, it is possible to show a live broadcast on the interactive board on the cabinet of living-room side, where usually shows daily-schedule and relevant information at normal time. When the screen is put facing the wall, the white board on its back leaves space for family to draw and write to the resident.