Twilight Groves: Senior Living Community by Shubangi Suryanarayanan

TWILIGHT GROVES: SENIOR LIVING COMMUNITY A THESIS REPORT Submitted by

SHUBANGI SURYANARAYANAN In partial fulfillment for the award of the degree of

BACHELOR OF ARCHITECTURE

MEASI Academy of Architecture 87 Peter’s Road, Royapettah, Chennai 600014

ANNA UNIVERSITY : CHENNAI 600025 May 2021

ANNA UNIVERSITY : CHENNAI 600025 BONAFIDE CERTIFICATE Certified that this thesis report on “Twilight Groves: Senior Living Community“ is the bonafide work of “Shubangi Suryanarayanan“ who carried out the thesis work under my supervision.

SIGNATURE

Ar. K.V. Shivakumar, M.Arch

Prof. N. Altaf Ahmed Director MEASI Academy of Architecture

Assistant Professor MEASI Academy of Architecture

87 Peter’s Rd. Royapettah Chennai 600014

87 Peter’s Rd. Royapettah

SIGNATURE EXTERNAL EXAMINER

SUPERVISOR

Chennai 600014

SIGNATURE EXTERNAL EXAMINER

DECLARATION I declare that this thesis titled “Twilight Groves: Senior Living Community” is bonafide work done by me, under the supervision of Ar. K.V. SHIVAKUMAR at MEASI Academy of Architecture, Chennai during the period December 2020 – May 2021. I further declare that the work reported herein does not form part of any other thesis based on which a degree or award was conferred on any earlier occasion.

Chennai Date: 23.07.2021

Student’s signature SHUBANGI SURYANARAYANAN

Acknowledgements The satisfaction that accompanies the successful completion of any task would be incomplete without the mention of the people who have made it possible. It is my great privilege to express my gratitude and respect to all those who have guided and inspired me during the course of this thesis project. First and foremost, I express my sincere gratitude to the Director of MEASI Academy of Architecture, Prof. N. ALTAF AHMED, B.Arch., F.I.I.A., M.R.S.H., F.A.E.P., for providing the necessary facilities for the completion of my thesis project. I would like to express my gratitude to the Dean of the institution Dr. A.N.SACHITHANANTHAN, B.Arch., MT, PhD, F.I.T.P, F.I.I.A Cert. in Housing (London), for being a constant source of support, encouragements, and guidance through my years of undergraduate study that has culminated in this Thesis. My special thanks to the Head of the Department, Prof. S.KESAVALU (B.E (Hons), M.Sc.M.I.ECert. in C.A.P & D. for his valued structural assistance, inspiration & guidance during the progress of this project. I also express sincere thanks to my Internal Review Panel, Prof. S. RAVI, for his encouragement and guidance. I am also thankful to Ar. KALPANA BALAJI, for her suggestions and advice given during the various stages of my thesis review sessions. I wish to express my sincere appreciation to my supervisor, Ar. K.V. SHIVAKUMAR, who convincingly guided and encouraged me to be professional and do the right thing even when the road got tough. Without his persistent help, the goal of this project would not have been realised. Finally, I would like to thank Mr. Parameshwaran from Coimbatore who helped me formulate my study and Mr. Aravamudhan from Serene Adinath who showed me the practical functioning of senior homes along with his team. My gratitude to Ar. Nirupama Suresh from Natraj and Venkat Associates, for her thoughtful insights during my site study.

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I wish to dedicate this work to my grandparents who were my inspiration to take up this project, for they have given me many happy moments to look back to as we grew older together. I would also like to acknowledge the support and great love of my family and friends. They kept me going on and this thesis would not have been possible without their input.

Abstract More often than not retirement communities are thought to be analogous to old age institutions. This makes a few people sceptical when it comes to moving into such facilities even when they are in dire need of it. Now, with a rising market for such communities, this thesis started with a quest to create a well-balanced old age in such places. Throughout the project, in-depth literature reviews and case studies were compiled to derive a set of design considerations for the elderly. Additionally a survey conducted for people who live here and those who will in the near future gave an understanding on the expectations from such facilities and their aspirations. With these in mind, a holistic approach was adopted in designing ‘Twilight Groves: Senior Living Community’. Primary studies showed that the kinds of communities that exist in India are either gated communities for the aged or intensive specialised facilities treating the semi-ambulatory. This design takes inspiration from the CCRC (Continuing Care Retirement Communities) model that caters to the needs of a wide age group of people in their 60s and beyond. The aim was to create a transitional living unit which accommodates both assisted living and independent living within the same campus. Three guiding principles that helped shape this proposal were: (i) Sense of homeliness (ii) Sense of independence (iii) Sense of community. Contrary to the earlier need for a ‘hotel-like treatment’ in such facilities, the present generation of the 60+ population are more active and view retired life as means to explore themselves. The idea of community gardening proposed in this campus makes recreational ‘family’ time productive and overall, self-sustaining. While doing so, this thesis project also infuses community spaces with their dwelling units in an attempt to recreate their childhood backyard experience.

Twilight Groves : Senior Living Community | Introduction

Twilight Groves : Senior Living Community | Literature Study

Twilight Groves : Senior Living Community | Case Study

Twilight Groves : Senior Living Community | Analysis

Twilight Groves : Senior Living Community | Site Study

Twilight Groves : Senior Living Community | Concept Development