Intentional Design in Senior Living

Intentional Design in Senior Living

When you tour a retirement community, you are looking for caring staff interactions with residents, trained team members who are service-oriented and a beautiful community that offers the resources and support you or your loved one need. However, there’s a lot of intentional design that often goes unnoticed in senior living communities. Here are a few important features of a retirement community that can help to decrease the risk of falling, enhance independence for residents and enrich the lives of everyone who works, visits and lives there.

Flooring Choices

Just a decade or so ago, you could find mostly clinical-looking, linoleum flooring throughout the hallways and homes in senior living communities. This flooring was meant to make pushing wheelchairs and walkers easy, but often left a community feeling cold and not at all like home.

Today, you can find flooring choices that are chosen for their safety and for their style. For example, low-pile carpeting can add to the cozy ambiance of a retirement community while still reducing the risk of falling and making it safe to push a walker or wheelchair over. 

Residents also find rubber or cork flooring that looks like hardwood but is softer and provides more traction.

Lots of Natural Light

Fluorescent lighting was the senior industry standard until intentional designers began pushing for more natural light throughout resident homes and the common spaces of the community. Natural light is better for everyone’s mood (more sunlight exposure throughout the day leads to less depression and anxiety), and it enhances healthy sleep habits by helping to establish a circadian rhythm. 

Finally, natural light makes seeing a bit easier, especially for those living with low-vision challenges. This means that more windows can help to reduce the risk of falling due to vision issues.

Social Dining Rooms

The dining experience at retirement communities has drastically changed for the better in the past 20 years. Today’s dining rooms are more like restaurants and feature open seating and friendly service in addition to delicious foods. Retirement living dining venues are designed to feel welcoming and to encourage socialization among neighbors, helping residents to create friendships and new connections over a meal.

Better Floor Plans

Finally, potential residents can choose between a variety of floor plans to meet their needs and budget. You’ll find floor plans offering studio, one-bedroom, and two-bedroom apartments, many with patios/balconies or some that even have dens. Finding a residence that expresses your personal style is even easier thanks to today’s senior living designers.

Visit Redbrook at The Glen

At The Glen, we are always finding new ways to enhance our community for the benefit of our residents, team members, and guests. Most recently, we have designed and opened Redbrook, our newest living option for active independent seniors. We invite you to take a look at any of our five unique floor plans with accessible design and contemporary finishes at Redbrook. Contact us to schedule a personal tour so we can tell you more about Redbrook at The Glen.


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