A Post Construction Evaluation of Westside Retirement Home: the Impact of Design and the Physical Environment on Building Users.

Abstract

The problem of designing a supportive living setting for elderly residents who must have continual nursing care is a great challenge to the architectural profession. In order to explore this problem and identify architectural variables which can result in increased usage of an environment by an elderly population, a case study of Westside, a newly renovated retirement home, was chosen as the focus of the study. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the building design in fulfilling users' needs. The application of design criteria was evaluated in terms of performance as measured against the program for design. The research consisted of a longitudinal approach with a time span ranging from shortly before completion of construction to one full year after occupancy. Research methods included interviewing residents and staff members, informal visits with residents, behavioral observation/ photography, and consulting resident records. Through the use of case studies of individual nursing residents, the impact of relocation on residents was documented. Findings indicate that the basic organization of the newly renovated facility, which contains four residential floors organized around a central atrium, is successful in that it provides an easily negotiable and underst and able living setting. Each residential floor was designed with a distinct color scheme so that residents could distinguish one floor from the other. In spite of the color coding it was found that residents and staff members experienced problems with floor identification. The addition of large numbers across from the elevators on each floor alleviated the problem. The architect believed that by making all four residential floors similar in design, there would not be a drastic change for the residents upon ultimately moving from a semi-dependent care floor to a nursing floor. In spite of this, residents were found to maintain their fear of being transferred to a nursing floor. While many of the architect's programming attempts were effective in promoting the independent movement and increased activity level of residents, movement of residents from one floor to another within the building was found to be quite restricted due to nursing aides desire to track resident's whereabouts. Changeovers in key staff members of the home, especially the home's administrator, contributed to a breakdown in the implementation of the architect's programmed usage of spaces. The architect was successful in reducing glare by extensive use of non-reflective vinyl wall covering and carpeting. Bright colors which were used throughout the building were well received by residents and staff members. The colorful and sensorially rich environment was found to provide a home-like appearance which is quite atypical of health care institutions in this country. The study demonstrated that site trips and counseling done prior to relocation can lessen the shock of an abrupt change in environments for residents. More work in this area needs to be done in order to reduce the risks of relocation even further. An implication of the research is that architects need to work closely with retirement home administrators (1) in programming a building design, (2) at the time of relocation to assure a smooth transition from one environmental setting to another, and (3) in order to assure the proper use of physical space following construction and occupancy. Post construction evaluations are useful in gaining an underst and ing of how a building performs and can thus strengthen the basis for future planning and design decisions. Future evaluations should incorporate a multi-method approach involving all user levels and should be thorough enough to give an accurate picture of a building's performance. Only in this way can architects recognize and avoid the mistakes of past projects as well as recognize and repeat their successes.