Conclusion

Through this dissertation, the importance and understanding of colour consideration and usage within contemporary aged care facilities was explored and developed. The beneficial qualities that colour can provide for patients with age-affiliated visual and psychological deficiencies in order to promote physical and mental well-being and self-healing was understood to be one that had greater impact when colour was identified as seperate indicators within a space. The importance of recognising visual deficiencies as a result of ageing, allows architects and designers to create spaces that are universally applicable. Chapter One gave insight into the age-affiliated conditions of yellow tinting of the lens, colour blindness and dementia, highlighting colours and schemes that work successfully but also ones which unsuccessfully alter an individuals perception of their environment (Mahnke 1996). Using colour as a navigation device allows for assistance in the movement of elderly individuals through a space through way-finding, orientation and other physical elements (Leibrock 2000: 82). The Santa Rita Geriatric Centre in Menorca, Spain, designed by Manuel Ocaña successfully harnesses colour by using coloured lines and shapes to navigate patients and staff through the facility. The association of colour to a designated space assists in the patients’ memory by building patterns through a daily understanding and recollection of the spaces they visit or use. By impacting the behaviours elderly patients have colour allows for boundaries to be set, defining spaces that function as ‘healing’ as well as spaces they can retreat and seek comfort in. The use of built colour in combination with natural colour best allows for this process. The case study of the Dominique Coulon and Associates, Nursing Home for the Seriously Disabled in Mattaincourt, France successfully provides a calming, treatment space for elderly patients to which they can peacefully develop their well-being and accomplish self-healing (Dominique Coulon and Associates 2010). The use of colour as a social indicator within an aged care environment assists in the recognition of private and social space. The definition between spaces allows for the human interaction of socialisation to occur, an important process which assists in the mental well-being of aged care residents (Mozzer 2014). Designed by Ricard Galiana, Sergi Pons and Pau Vidal, the Torre Julia apartment block in Barcelona, Spain, successfully creates a clear definition between the communities and the social spaces within them, using colour to highlight designated spaces. The use of colour assists in orientating the resident towards the coloured communal spaces, providing them with an opportunity to socialise and engage with their community (Spanish Architects 2019). This understanding of how colour can define space through consideration and application, allows for its use of colour as social indicator to assist aged care residents with navigation and socialisation. By combining the understanding of how colour can be applied and the limitations surrounding which colours are selected, in regards to aged-affiliated visual deficiencies which can alter and affect how colour and space is perceived, architects and designers can successfully create contemporary aged care spaces that cater to a

universal audience. These spaces can provide comfort and safety, assisting patients through the daily activities of their final stages of life, ultimately promoting an environment of self-healing and well-being.