The Environments for Aging (EFA) Judges for the Design Showcase Awards
The Environments for Aging (EFA) reviewed the 2016 entries for the Design Showcase Finalist and Award winners. Representing ASID as a juror this year, BJ highlights some EFA Showcase Trends viewed from her unique perspective of design and development.
The assisted living floor plans exhibited square footage creep in several projects (500-1100sf), allowing greater consumer choice for one bedroom suites, one bedrooms with dens as well as varied efficiency sizes. This is an indicator that “aging in place” can also occur at the assisted living level and provides a gauge of how these facilities are morphing to attract and appear more independent in nature.
There still seems to be a struggle designing the household model that minimizes corridors yet still offers separation form the public spaces. This feature often involves increased square footage creating cost factors in both construction and site acreage. The industry is yet to strike a balance on the perfect corridor. Creating “flex” units and facilities for an unknown future was only discussed in one project my group reviewed.
http://www.efamagazine.com/news-item/environments-aging-names-winners-20th-annual-design-showcase
