Chapter Three: Case Study Examples of Colour Indication Consideration in Contemporary Aged Care Facilities
The developed understanding of the physical and psychological well-being properties of colour application through both a visual and physical means, has allowed for contemporary health care facilities to incorporate this understanding into their designs. However consideration must also be taken into why certain colours should and should not be used and the associated age-related deficiencies which may affect how and whether individuals can perceive these colours. Chapter Three will focus on the three ideas of colour usage as movement, behaviour and social indicators as established in Chapter Two, through the introduction and analysis of three contemporary case study examples which successfully enable these indicators through the incorporation of colour into their spatial designs in order to achieve physical and psychological well-being. The Santa Rita Geriatric Centre by Manuel Ocaña enables colour as a movement indicator to assist senior patients with way-finding and orientation. The Maison d’Accueil Spécialisé Nursing Home for the Seriously Disabled in Mattaincourt, France, designed by Dominique Coulon & Associates encompasses colour through both the built environment and natural surroundings in order to promote behavioural well-being. Torre Julia is a housing complex for senior citizens designed by Ricard Galiana, Sergi Pons and Pau Vidal which utilises colour as a social indicator in order to encourage residents to move through common spaces and initiate social interaction. By understanding the need for considered colour, these architects have designed three completely separate spaces which each individually utilising natural and built colour in new and different ways, as well as a visual indicator for patients in order to benefit their lives through physical, behavioural and social well-being.
Case Study One: Colour as a Movement Indicator The Santa Rita Geriatric Centre in Menorca, Spain is an aged care facility designed by architect Manuel Ocaña which accommodates residents who are in the last phase of their lives. Completed in 2009, the structure sits across 5900 square metres and accommodates 70 patients and 20 day staff (Feddersen et al. 2009: 186). Ocaña aimed to design a structure which did not physically resemble a typical hospital instead creating a space which provided patients with privacy, accessibility and self-determined freedom. The site is highly reflective of its context; the form itself is a topographical loop of the filled in quarry on which it is situated, Ocaña has also used contour lines derived from the topography of the quarry on the concrete ceiling of the circulation. The two storey structure is comprised of four main elements: the patients rooms which are accessible from both the interior and exterior courtyards, three interior courtyards, health care and recreational facilities and the circulation path which connects the spaces to one another. The space is broken 21
