This year’s crop of EFA Design Showcase submissions illustrated an industry-wide shift toward more person-centered design, with scale playing a starring role in creating more homelike spaces, especially as more household models emerge. (For more on this, see “Senior Living Design Is Homeward Bound.”)
But when zooming in on everything from fixtures and finishes to furniture and color palettes, the jury of industry professionals who reviewed dozens of projects for the program found that those details had their own stories to tell.
“As an interior designer, the two areas that impressed me the most were the connections to nature and the selections of interior finishes,” says juror Maria Lopez, principal of Maria Lopez Interiors (Stevenson, Md.). “Finishes are being selected that support the design, are gender neutral, and are scaled to the residents while being familiar, fresh, and upscale.”
Those connections to nature, specifically heightened exposures to natural light, were often achieved by deviation from traditional layouts, with interiors designed to create more ways for light to penetrate building cores, notes Derek Perini, senior interior designer at RLPS Architects (Lancaster, Pa.). “Floor plans are ‘opening up’ and spaces are no longer defined by permanent walls.”
Decisions like these, notes Jill Schroeder, senior interior designer at Pope Architects (St. Paul, Minn.), showcased a growing value being placed on the quality of design and the materials used. “Many of the projects enforced that care providers are making the interior details of their facilities a priority by increasing the budget for features and architectural details,” she says.
However, for some, the results didn’t quite achieve desired warmth. For example, Skip Gregory, president of Health Facility Consulting LLC (Tallahassee, Fla.), says, the trend toward more upscale design at times resulted in environments more reminiscent of hotels or theaters than homes—an aesthetic that may only appeal to a certain segment of prospective residents as opposed to a more general population.
Across the board, dining, specifically, emerged as the muse for interior design trends this year, with many projects creating a multitude of seating options and comfortable spaces that subtracted the once-institutional feel of the dining halls of old.
“A lot of the dining venues are taking on a more hospitality approach,” Perini says. “Dining rooms are no longer a vast space of tables and chairs, like a high school cafeteria. Dining is no longer just about the meals, but more about the whole dining experience. Interior finishes are becoming more elegant, lush, and sophisticated without being stark, formal, or stuffy.”
Overall, while jurors were impressed for the most part with where senior living interiors are heading, the trend was tempered by an ongoing lack of research that proves the efforts pay off, Schroeder notes. “Embellishing a space and improving the level of finishes can create an aesthetically impressive care model, but we continue to question whether the finishes impacted the residents’ quality of life,” she says.
Jennifer Kovacs Silvis is executive editor of Environments for Aging. She can be reached at [email protected].
For more on the EFA Design Showcase, see the following:
- Diving Into Wellness At Spring Lake Village
- Gathering Places That Shine
- Senior Living Design Is Homeward Bound
- EFA Design Showcase Jurors Offer Unique Perspectives
- Forward-Looking Design For Senior Living
