Environments for Aging - Winter 2022 - 22

Kasian Senior Living Environments Design Analysis Team
KASIAN ARCHITECTURE INTERIOR DESIGN AND PLANNING LTD. (VANCOUVER, BRITISH COLUMBIA, CANADA)
Aziz Bootwala
Senior Principal, Vice President,
Seniors Market Sector Chair
K
Christi ne Weber Craik
Senior Interior Designer, Senior Associate
ASIAN SENIOR LIVING Environments Design
Analysis Team works to improve the
design of senior living and long-term care
communities through research, collaboration,
and case study analyses. Christine Weber Craik,
Aziz Bootwala, Nancy Wilson, and Deborah Wadsworth
are four of its leaders who are guiding the
way. Th eir work is applied to Kasian Architecture
Interior Design and Planning Ltd.'s current architectural
and design work in senior living across
Canada and abroad. For example, their fi ndings
have been presented nationally and internationally
and inform not just architecture and interior design,
but the senior living typology, its care models,
and operations.
Recently, they've tackled hot-button issues
such as memory care by designing suites that
allow a caregiver and resident to live in parallel
quarters within walking distance from each other.
Additionally, they've explored solutions for
aging in place by simplifying access to amenities,
creating fl oor plans shaped by spatial and sensory
relationships, and recreating familiar routines
to intrinsically connect memory to place.
In one current project, the design will allow
residents to cook for themselves with support,
which enables autonomy in a way that has not
been done before in the jurisdiction. In another,
residents will be able to interact with the greater
community through the Village Square, a retail
component carefully designed to safely connect
the home with the community. With an eye on
independence, choice, and fl exibility, the team's
work evolves how and where care is delivered for
the better.
22 | winter 2022
Deborah Wadsworth
Senior Project Architect, Associate
EFA: Tell us about the history and mission of the Kasian
Senior Living Environments Design Analysis Team.
Bootwala: Since March 2020, we've been studying
current research, analyzing case studies worldwide,
and conducting post-occupancy evaluations.
Our process involves interviewing owners, operators,
care partners, administrators, clinicians, families,
health authorities, and academics. Th rough
people's stories, their challenges and opportunities,
we are investigating potential solutions to the
unique challenges in long-term, elder care, and
assisted living communities in North America.
Th rough this work, our goal is to create a " design
for aging " playbook, a comprehensive resource including
global examples of best practices that can
be shared broadly inside and outside of the industry.
How do the team's findings inform Kasian's senior
living design work, specifi cally?
Weber Craik: We identify and connect with specialists
to create a repository of evidence-based
information and data to support design solutions
in the senior living and elder care sector. Analyzing
this eclectic and broad band of wisdom from diverse
sources and putting it together to fi nd cross-references
and commonalities between them ultimately
creates a consistent quality of design. Whether our
fi ndings are related to safety and improved effi ciency,
or to creating a familiar environment of comfort
and care, we can be confi dent that the outcome will
better meet the unique needs of each community.
What's an example of a recent fi nding from your work
that inspired a new approach to senior living design?
Wadsworth: Through our research we learned
Nancy Wilson
Senior Project Architect, Associate
about the signifi cance of laundry. It is often overlooked
in design for elders but is extremely connected
to personal identity. What we wear is part
of how we express our identity, and doing our own
laundry is actually quite an intimate aspect of selfcare.
Providing resident laundry facilities for assisted
living is a great example of a program and design
improvement based on this fi nding. While residents
can opt to have their clothing washed by the staff ,
many prefer to do it themselves or with a family
member-perhaps they like a specifi c detergent or
for special care to be taken with select clothing. To
meet that desire, we implemented a café-style laundry
room that doubles as a social space.
You use a three-ti er approach that covers personal,
responsive, and regenerati ve layers that are applied to
projects. How does that work in practi ce?
Wilson: Th ese tiers allow us to understand and
evaluate the design and design process to ensure
our projects meet user needs and off er opportunities
for fulfi lment beyond simply having physical
needs addressed. At the outset of a project,
we lay the foundation for a regenerative design-a
design that encourages growth, meaning, and
purpose by working with stakeholders and users
to understand their aspirations for the project.
Next, we delve into the personal through detailed
user interviews with residents, care partners,
family, and staff to understand the specifi c needs
of each group. Once we understand both the
granular needs and lofty aspirations for a project,
we design to create a responsive project, one
that meets the detailed needs and supports the
overall vision.
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