As we all live longer and enjoy many active retirement years, the market for flexible and adaptable retirement housing has grown significantly. Moving away from segregated housing units, developers looking to meet the needs of older people are embracing the concept of co-living.
Co-living developments offer a combination of private living accommodation with shared facilities for dining, socialising, learning, fitness and outdoor relaxation. Layouts may include suburban detached cottages or small blocks of apartments around a central garden space and community buildings to larger urban blocks more reminiscent of hotels.
Retirement co-living has been found to promote independence and encourage a sense of community and security, reducing issues of isolation and loneliness. Sited within existing communities to help retain social connections, developments are being designed that accommodate the changing needs of retired people, providing facilities for active retirement through to assisted living and end of life care.
At the core of the co-living model is the principle that residents play an active part in the running of their community and share decision making for issues such as design, maintenance and social facilities. For the architect and designer of such developments, this means that the ‘client’ can be considered to be the community as much as the developer and the design process will include discussion with residents and give them design options for their personal living spaces.
The above image features Auburn Oak
Internally, compact rooms are designed with clean lines and a light airy feel to give a sense of space while durable, easy to clean materials are key to minimising the demands of day to day cleaning. Large windows combined with general and task lighting will maximise the amount of light available, making it safer for older people to move around.
A hard-wearing floor that offers a good rate of slip resistance will help meet stringent safety requirements for retirement housing. Karndean flooring offers cutting edge technology for a hygienic and waterproof surface with a traditional homely style of natural wood and stone flooring. Residents can be offered a wide choice of flooring designs, enabling them to express their individuality yet also meeting the development’s technical requirements.
The above image features Black Riven Slate
In single level developments, our gluedown ranges offer a practical surface with exceptional versatility and durability. Available in a huge range of traditional or contemporary wood and stone designs, an individual look can be created with a bespoke combination of planks or tiles in different laying styles, from parquet and herringbone patterns, straight lay planks with design strips for a floorboard effect or even the look of a Victorian geometric tiled floor.
In multi-level developments where noise transfer between floors is key, a loose lay or rigid core flooring is the perfect choice. With all the style of a natural wood floor, our LooseLay and Korlok ranges come with all the benefits of LVT, are quick and easy to install and offer enhanced acoustic qualities to reduce noise transfer to the floor below by up to 21dB.
Popular with housebuilders, Karndean flooring combines cutting edge technology with the beauty of natural materials for a surface that will stand up to the wear and tear of daily life including spillages, pets and wheelchairs to look great for years to come.