U T O P I A the Utopian Nursing home
The Utopian Nursing home
Outside of my studies, I work as a draftswoman and have had the opportunity to design plans for care centers. This motivated me to take the Studio Care studio. During this semester, we studied many care centers. We all know that architectural projects are full of constraints. When designing a care center, the question of space and costs is as important as the well-being of the residents and the efficiency of the staff. To avoid being trapped by traditional designs, it is useful to escape from reality for a while and dream. I took advantage of this studio to explore the Utopic care center for the elderly. How far can we go if we forget these constraints? Solène Riga
Studio Care Fall 2020
Elements
p6. The Bedroom
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p10. The Bathroom
2
p14. The Corridor
3
p18. The Kitchen
4
p22. The Garden
5
Inspiration
p26. The Interview
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1 THE BEDROOM
The utopian bedroom is, at the same time: A private bubble in which the resident can sleep. Intimate, protective, comfortable, calm. An open space to invite friends and family. Bright, warm, connected to a pleasant landscape. The environment and furniture of the room are the resident’s favorites. It can remind them of their old home or take them to a new place, depending on their mood.
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2 THE BATHROOM
The utopian bathroom is more than just a room for hygiene purposes. Washing is now a pleasant activity. It is possible to take a bath or a shower in the sun, individually or accompanied, for as long as you wish. The place has direct access to all bedrooms. It is a warm place, bathed in natural light and offering a view of the landscape, while remaining invisible from the outside.
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3 THE CORRIDOR
The utopian corridor is a place in itself. It is a connection between every room of the building, but it also is a living area. It is a place where you can meet with your friends or enjoy unexpected encounters. It has no dead ends, no hopelessly long and straight lines. It blurs the boundaries between inside and outside.
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4 THE KITCHEN
The Utopian kitchen is the heart of the care center. It is a place where everybody meets to enjoy a meal together. It is spacious, bright, and warm. It allows you to enjoy the surrounding landscape and relax. But it is also your own private kitchen, where you can eat whenever you want, directly from your room, thanks to your own fridge, filed with your friends and family’s delicious snacks.
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5 THE GARDEN
The environment of the utopian retirement house is an Eden garden. It is a meeting place for family and friends. It is a place of many activities whether they want to do some gardening together or watch the kids have fun in the playground. It is also a place for residents to walk alone, rest in the sun or the shade, and get lost in their thoughts. It has direct access from the city.
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6 INTERVIEW Florence Meunier, nurse in an EHPAD
Florence is a nurse in residential care for seniors (EHPAD). She worked as a nurse for 20 years, starting at the Etablissement Franรงais du Sang then as a home care nurse. During the past 8 years, she was a family assistant and foster home. A few months ago she decided to work as a nurse again but this time in an EHPAD.
We are 6 nurses plus 10 caregivers. Few days a week, there is also a doctor coming, a physiotherapist, a speech therapist and an occupational therapist. For the wellbeing of the residents there’s also a pedicure and hairdresser.
Why did you decide to work as a nurse in an EHPAD? I love the relationship you can establish with the patients. I didn’t want to work in a hospital nor as a home care nurse because it was too much driving, and really tiring. The opportunity to work in a residential institution for the elderly was the best fit for me. EHPAD is a french Residential care facility for senior citizens who aren’t autonomous enough to be in a retirement home. Can you describe the care center you work in? The residential care I work in is in a recent building from 2011 which is 3-storeys high called Genevieve Roger Bailleul. It’s located in a residential street in Ronchin, near Lille. On the ground floor, there are the common spaces like the canteen. There also is an Alzheimer unit with 12 bedrooms which is independent from the rest. The bedrooms are on the 2 higher floors and there can welcome 60 persons How many nurses and staff are taking care of these 60 residents?
Do you think the building is appropriate for the care center? Not really. 80% of the residents are in wheelchairs. It’s complicated for them to go outside as they need to go out of their room, go through the long corridor, use one of the two elevators, go down, and then roll to the outside where we have no garden but only a carpark. People that have easy access to the outside are the Alzheimer unit, which doesn’t make sense since they can’t leave alone and have to stay in the unit. Would you prefer a building at ground level? Yes it would be much better. We have stairs between the level and it’s really dangerous. Everyday we have to pay attention to this woman who likes to roll around in the corridor and make sure she doesn’t fall off the stairs. We feel like it will happen someday. I would also be very nice that each room can have an access to a garden so that they don’t need to go through the whole building everytime. Can you tell us about the bedroom of the center? Are they identical to the Alzheimer unit? Do they have their own bathroom or kitchen? Every room is identical. They have approximately 15m2 and a direct access to their bathroom, with an open shower. But there is a metal ruler under the bathroom door to avoid the water
“People that still have a fair degree of autonomy are losing it as they are limited by the architecture of the building”
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“It would be so great to have a dog coming around sometimes, residents love when someone comes to visit with a pet”
going into the bedroom, which creates a bump and most residents are not strong enough to roll over it with their wheelchairs. They don’t have a kitchen, they all eat at the canteen. But they can bring their own furniture and the one appliance they all bring is a fridge. This way they can store food that the families and visitors bring. Overall, what do you think about the architecture of the building your work in? About the materials and colors? To be honest, it doesn’t really work well. You have a lot of windows on the facades which makes the building a furnace in summer and very cold in the winter. The colors and materials are supposed to be modern, but they are grey, brown and plastic and they create a sad and cold atmosphere. It also makes it difficult for the residents to find their way.The ground floor is really open and makes people uncomfortable as there is no privacy. There’s also supposed to be a library but it really is just a shelf and a sofa in a corridor right at the exit of the elevator, so no one ever seats there. You said that there are few common spaces. What activities can the residents do? Do you think it is enough? There is only one 50m2 common room. It’s not enough and people often use the canteen as a room to do their activity which isn’t hygienic or practical. There aren’t many organised activities. An animator does one activity with a group of only 6 or 7 residents. And once a month we do a
Theme Meal. This month was a raclette and they all enjoyed it! What is the impact of covid on your work and the care center? What are the special rules? The center is taking really strict measures : the staff is being tested every monday and residents are allowed to have only 1 visitor at a time and for 30 minutes maximum. They have to stay in the common area which isn’t cosy. This system seems to be working as we have no Covid case since September, but it is hard for the residents to be so isolated. What do you think is the best architecture for a care center? An architecture that is as close as possible to a beguinage is the best. Each resident must have his/her own room, kitchen and garden, but be close to others and have access to common areas. Are there other elements you’d like to mention to conclude on a positive note? Even in these difficult conditions, it’s an amazing job. You get to meet new people and connect with them on a really deep level. We are now 4 nurses per day and are working 10 hours 4/7 days per week which allow you to fully focus and take time when you are there and then rest for a few days. It is not a job for anyone but I really love it. Thank you for your time and insights!
Inspired by the Books of Elements and Interviews