Extract

In New Zealand, 190,000 older people are part of the core demand for social housing, with this
number expected to rise as the population ages. To combat this, a market driven response through the
supply of social housing for elderly is necessary. Current research indicates that there is little
information nationally or internationally about specific requirements for social elderly care facilities,
particularly in NZ. Working with a medium-scale, research based architectural practice, the objective of
this paper is to survey and test a specific case study to understand conceptual design techniques for
upcoming practice based social elderly housing development. The aim of this research is to inform
design project work and outputs, current operations and possible design interventions in the future that
address designing for the elderly, testing occupant preference of globally researched interventions. This
paper uses a qualitative case study approach to examine the living experience of 10 elderly people who
live in local-authority rental housing in New Zealand and two custodians of these occupants. The survey
consisted of conversation-based interviews with the residents in their dwellings. The study finds that
consideration needs to be given to elements of specific interior spaces, spatial configuration,
accessibility, outdoor, light, privacy and safety and social aspects.

Keywords: Social-housing, Elderly-care, Spatial Design, Occupant response.

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