17 Jan 2011

Presentations + Report from Seminar: Independent Living and Design for our Ageing Population

Source: www.riai.ie

Independent Living and Design for our Ageing Population

Seminar Presentations + Report by Caitriona Shaffrey, Chair of the RIAI Accessibility Task Force


"Independent Living and Design for our Ageing Population" was the title of a seminar held on the 6th December 2010 in Dublin City Council’s Wood Quay venue.

The seminar was jointly organised by the UIA Architecture For All Workgroup, the Directorship of which is hosted by RIAI ,together with the  RIAI  Accessibility Task Force and the RIAI Healthcare design committee .

The intention of the seminar was to consider design strategies for an ageing population and to focus attention on improving quality of life for older people through design.

There were six presentations:

Professor Rose Anne Kenny (Director of Centre for Successful Ageing in St. James’s Hospital) spoke about the ageing Demographics of Europe and BioPsychSocial consequences.
She gave some fascinating facts, which will have major implications for the lives of older people: In the 1900s there were 22 people working for every retired person; by 2024, there will be less than 3.
She spoke about ageing and research being carried out to reverse the process.
She then went on to talk about the cost of dementia – in care terms – and studies, which indicate that a more active, involved life appears to slow the onset of dementia.
Roseto Valfortore – an Italian community in the USA, have experienced a much longer lifespan than most communities in America which is put down to diet, exercise, genetics and environment.

Note: Presentation not available


RIAI President, Paul Keogh, was the next speaker and he spoke about the ageing process with respect to two sheltered housing schemes done by his practice and with his own experience with older members of his family. He spoke of the need for the social interaction between people in sheltered housing – manifested in open plan spaces internally for maximum connectivity. 

View Presentation:  Case Studies in Sheltered Housing in Ireland


Eduardo Elkouss of Spain spoke of his experience in the search for energy efficiency/ environmental impact reduction and the impact of sun and shade when designing relatively large scale units.

Note: Presentation not available


Rodd Bond – described the WHO Age Friendly Cities Programme and the development of Louth as an age friendly county. He illustrated the “Great Northern Haven Project in Dundalk; he spoke of “Ageing in Place – Independent Living /  Clustered living” and the shifting perspectives, which influence the development of these headings.
He mentioned the research report “HAPPI” (Housing our Ageing Population Panel for Innovation) www.homesandcommunities.co.uk/housing-ageing-population-panel-innovation.htm  – which shows similar issues and directions in the UK. 

View Presentation: WHO Age Friendly Cities Programme and Louth as an Age Friendly County


Eleanor Masterson, Architectural Advisor in the Health Services Executive gave an overview of the history of housing for older people in the state  starting from the old workhouses which were converted  into institutional facilities for older people  to the later nursing homes with medical nursing backup and up to 6 bed units to relatively recent times where a 4 bed unit is the maximum and moving forward to have 70% single room occupancy with a possibility for having more space for elderly people to bring their belongings with a variety of therapy spaces and less institutional dining rooms – small kitchen units where people can   have some flexibility in when and how they eat. She spoke of the normalisation of everyday activities.

View Presentation: Residential Healthcare - an overview of public practice in Ireland


Monika Klenovec, Architect and civil engineer, Chair of the UN NGO Committee on Ageing In Vienna spoke about independent living in Austria where adaptable housing is the norm for all general need housing and there are different options for people as they grow older. 

She spoke of different options:
1) Adaptable residential apartments
2) Supported living in smaller apartments either alone or with other elderly people.
3) independent living with 24 hour nursing care
4) Collective  living
5) Active independent living in hotel like setting with all dining, recreational, medical facilities in one complex but with individual units for living- she gave two examples of this.

View Presentation– Independent living in Austria & a review of European Access Awards



Sean Mahon of the RIAI Healthcare Committee chaired the evening, and at this point he brought the seminar to a close as we were well over our allotted time.
This seminar was a most stimulating evening which was enjoyed by all who attended.



The following morning the UIA members and some members of the RIAI Accessibility Taskforce were given a tour of the “Aviva stadium“ by Bryan Roe and Rebecca Ryan of Scott Tallon Walker Architects. The stadium has recently been jointly awarded the inaugural ONCE prize at the World Architecture Festival for Accessible Design – the other building was the Vancouver Community Centre in Canada.

This was then followed by a visit to the Health Centre in Ringsend designed by A&D Wejchert where Helen Giblin showed the group around. The Ringsend Health Centre received the RIAI/OPW  Accessibility award in 2009.

Many thanks to Brian, Rebecca and Helen for their time in explaining each building. 


Caitriona Shaffrey,
Chair,RIAI ATF        December 7th 2010

 

 

Presentations

•Paul Keogh – Case Studies in Sheltered Housing in Ireland

•Rodd Bond – WHO Age Friendly Cities Programme and Louth as an Age Friendly County

•Eleanor Masterson –  Residential Healthcare - an overview of public practice in Ireland

•Eduardo Elkouss – Recent changes & current trends in Spain

•Monika Klenovec – Independent living in Austria & a review of European Access Awards

 


Biographies

Paul Keogh is President of the RIAI and has designed a number of award winning developments for older people

Rodd Bond is an architect, Director of the Netwell Centre in Dundalk Institute of Technology, who has managed Dundalk’s participation in the WHO Age friendly cities project

Eleanor Masterson is Architectural Advisor in the Health Service Executive, Estates

Dr. Eduardo Elkouss, originally from Argentina, now practices as an architect in Alicante.

Monika Anna Klenovec is an architect & civil engineer, Chair of the UN NGO Committee on Ageing in Vienna & Jury Member for the World Architecture Festival Accessibility Award