1. Provide residents a high level of control and independence.
The main principle is to provide control to frail and disabled people who need assistance. This is accomplished through resident-directed services that maximize independence and private apartments that provide each resident a high degree of control over their environment.
2. Create a non-institutional home environment.
A home is characterized by intimately scaled rooms and residential details, including: individually controlled lighting and heating, warm lighting and colors, familiar materials, carpeted floors, and control over the resident’s domain.
3. Maximize socialization.
Social interaction is essential to healthy and meaningful lives. Living areas located outside of the apartment are designed to encourage social connectivity and sustained interactions among residents.
4. Create environments and services that support aging-in-place.
Incorporate universal accessibility into all of the apartments, ensuring that the apartments are fully accessible to residents who are frail, blind, deaf, or who require wheelchairs, walkers, or other mobility aids so they do not have to move and are not segregated from others. The environment is designed to support increasing levels of services in the resident’s apartment. Building to the I-2 Life Safety standards is critical to supporting aging-in-place.
5. Maximize efficient operations.
Affordability requires efficiency. Economies in operations are achieved through open and compact design, remote monitoring, easily supervised common areas, wireless staff alerts and communication, and dementia friendly design features.
RM Sovich Architecture, Baltimore Architects creating places that stimulate the intellect, touch the emotions, and engage the senses.