30
October
2014
|
01:13
Asia/Singapore

NUS Architecture showcases fresh ideas for nursing home designs suited for high-rise, high-density Asian cities

Student design research programme culminates in a comprehensive sourcebook comprising 8 case studies of Singapore nursing homes, 58 creative designs as well as design templates for eldercare facilities

The Department of Architecture at the National University of Singapore's (NUS) School of Design and Environment (SDE) today launched a book titled “Re-Imagining the Nursing Home in Singapore”. This is a culmination of a semester-long design research project involving 131 third-year architecture students who developed creative yet practical designs for nursing homes in four sites in Singapore - Redhill, Ghim Moh, Sago Lane and Ubi. The project aims to offer fresh approaches in designing nursing homes for high-rise, high-density Asian cities such as Singapore.

The book launch was graced by Dr Amy Khor, Senior Minister of State, Ministry of Health and Ministry of Manpower, as the Guest-of-Honour.

Re-Imagining the Nursing Home in Singapore” is a comprehensive sourcebook based on a design research programme that was conducted by the NUS Department of Architecture from January to May 2012. It comprises case studies of eight local nursing homes, 58 selected design proposals, design templates for eldercare facilities as well as a comparative study of nursing floor plans. A total of 350 copies of the book has been published and will be shared with relevant institutions, policy makers and eldercare service providers. The project is supported by the Ministry of Health (MOH) and MOH Holdings, and the publication of the book is made possible through the generous support of Rankine & Hill (S) Pte Ltd. Please refer to the Annex for an abstract of the book.

Associate Professor Wong Yunn Chii, Head of the NUS Department of Architecture, said, “The Nursing Home programme is part of the Department's on-going efforts to inculcate in our architecture students an awareness of potential and real issues faced by our elderly population. Current knowledge about nursing home designs are based on models of predominantly low-rise facilities located in low-density areas. Living in high-rise and high-density settings of our new towns pose unique challenges to elderly residents. There is thus a pressing need to generate design knowledge suited for Singapore's tropical context as well as Southeast Asian culture and lifestyles. We hope that this project will promote discussions on the proper planning and designing considerations of our physical spaces that empower our elderly to create a desirable, gentle and healing environment."

In the Nursing Home programme, architecture students explored ideas that encourage active engagement of the nursing home residents through imaginative spaces for day activities, enhanced ward room designs, integration with the community as well as connection with nature and landscape. Some interesting ideas proposed by the students include an urban village that accommodates nursing home residents and their visitors, the creative juxtaposition of commercial corridor and nursing home, and a nursing home with a vertical gardening space.

Nursing Home Programme

The NUS Department of Architecture's design teaching and research is organised into four Design Sections. Ageing and healthcare are topics under the “Community and Housing” Design Section.

The Nursing Home programme aims to educate architecture students about the complexity of nursing care in the 21st century, and to encourage them to find new ways to design nursing homes that improve the quality of care for the elderly living in nursing homes without losing sight of their sense of identity.

Before embarking on the design projects, architecture students took part in a series of pre-design research activities, including visits to local nursing homes and eldercare facilities, to equip them with some domain knowledge about the topic. During the 13-week programme, the students conducted field trips, site surveys and interviews with residents in the precinct that they had selected. To infuse a degree of realism in the design investigations, students were guided by a detailed spatial programme comprising various functional spaces typically found in a nursing home. The programme also involved 12 design studios conducted by NUS faculty members as well as adjunct staff who are practicing architects.

Over the past decade, the NUS Department of Architecture had conducted undergraduate and post-graduate programmes on designing for dementia care, ageing-in-place and housing for the elderly. Electives on healthcare design are also conducted regularly. Collectively, these efforts build up the students' domain knowledge in this crucial topic of design for ageing.

“Timeline of Design Research on Ageing and Healthcare” Exhibition

In conjunction with the book launch, the NUS Department of Architecture has also put up an exhibition that showcases its design research on ageing. Selected projects from the Nursing Home programme (2012), Dementia Care Centre programme (2013) and Ageing-in-Place programme (2014) are featured in the exhibition. It also features several thesis projects by students from the Master of Architecture programme that were conducted since 2003, exploring issues related to designing for ageing.