While more people are living longer, not everybody is living longer. One of the biggest problems that the aging population faces is loneliness.
For septuagenarians and older, spouses, friends, and family members die, and the elderly are faced with the lack of support from peers. No one is there to help do household chores, no one is there to check on well-being. No one is there to even just have a conversation.
Witherford Watson Mann Architects has one solution, though. The firm designed a community residence located on a busy street in South London, where elderly people share space with neighbors at the center of an urban district.
HuffPost UK reports that permission has just been granted for a building in the Bermondsey district that will be home to 90 people over 70 years old. It will be completed in 2018.
The building is a modern take on an almshouse, a centuries-old British residence for the poor and old. But unlike the almshouses that were tucked away and set at a distance from the streets, the new facility will be front-and-center, with large glass panels that let visitors and passersby see its interior.
The five-story, 6,152-sm building will have courtyards, walkways, and lounges, and instead of kitchens, the residence will have a cookery school. The 200 sm of communal features are meant to foster interaction.
"There’s a lot of discussion around this issue of loneliness, particularly in cities, ironically,” Stephen Witherford, a Director of Witherford Watson Mann, told HuffPost UK. “You’ve got very dispersed families, some people are abroad, so the family structure we knew has obviously transformed geographically.
"A lot of older people don’t want to be seen as a burden. They lose a partner and they get very lonely, and their well-being deteriorates significantly through that, health and appearance."
Related Stories
| Mar 17, 2011
Perkins Eastman launches The Green House prototype design package
Design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman is pleased to join The Green House project and NCB Capital Impact in announcing the launch of The Green House Prototype Design Package. The Prototype will help providers develop small home senior living communities with greater efficiency and cost savings—all to the standards of care developed by The Green House project.
| Mar 11, 2011
Renovation energizes retirement community in Massachusetts
The 12-year-old Edgewood Retirement Community in Andover, Mass., underwent a major 40,000-sf expansion and renovation that added 60 patient care beds in the long-term care unit, a new 17,000-sf, 40-bed cognitive impairment unit, and an 80-seat informal dining bistro.
| Mar 11, 2011
Mixed-income retirement community in Maryland based on holistic care
The Green House Residences at Stadium Place in Waverly, Md., is a five-story, 40,600-sf, mixed-income retirement community based on a holistic continuum of care concept developed by Dr. Bill Thomas. Each of the four residential floors houses a self-contained home for 12 residents that includes 12 bedrooms/baths organized around a common living/social area called the “hearth,” which includes a kitchen, living room with fireplace, and dining area.
| Jan 27, 2011
Perkins Eastman's report on senior housing signals a changing market
Top international design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman is pleased to announce that the Perkins Eastman Research Collaborative recently completed the “Design for Aging Review 10 Insights and Innovations: The State of Senior Housing” study for the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The results of the comprehensive study reflect the changing demands and emerging concepts that are re-shaping today’s senior living industry.
| Jan 21, 2011
Harlem facility combines social services with retail, office space
Harlem is one of the first neighborhoods in New York City to combine retail with assisted living. The six-story, 50,000-sf building provides assisted living for residents with disabilities and a nonprofit group offering services to minority groups, plus retail and office space.
| Nov 3, 2010
Senior housing will be affordable, sustainable
Horizons at Morgan Hill, a 49-unit affordable senior housing community in Morgan Hill, Calif., was designed by KTGY Group and developed by Urban Housing Communities. The $21.2 million, three-story building will offer 36 one-bed/bath units (773 sf) and 13 two-bed/bath units (1,025 sf) on a 2.6-acre site.
| Aug 11, 2010
Brown Craig Turner opens senior living studio
Baltimore-based architecture and design firm Brown Craig Turner has significantly expanded its housing design capabilities and expertise with the launch of its new senior living studio.
| Aug 11, 2010
Bovis Lend Lease, Webcor among nation's largest multifamily contractors, according to BD+C's Giants 300 report
A ranking of the Top 50 Multifamily Contractors based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
| Aug 11, 2010
Jacobs, Arup, AECOM top BD+C's ranking of the nation's 75 largest international design firms
A ranking of the Top 75 International Design Firms based on Building Design+Construction's 2009 Giants 300 survey. For more Giants 300 rankings, visit http://www.BDCnetwork.com/Giants
