TITLE
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Student: Tijana Ivkovic
Supervisor: Davide Crippa
POLITECNICO DI MILANO
A.Y. 2019/20 SCHOOL OF DESIGN
Master of Science
INTERIOR AND SPATIAL DESIGN
Student TIJANA IVKOVIC
POLITECNICO DI MILANO
A.Y. 2019/20 SCUOLA DI DESIGN
Laurea Magistrale
INTERIOR AND SPATIAL DESIGN
Studente TIJANA IVKOVIC
This paper is focused on the wellbeing of peo-ple with autism spectrum disorders. There is no final definition and agreement whether autism spectrum disorder is a single condi-tion or is a chain of similar or closely relat-ed neurodevelopmental conditions that are subdivided into subgroups. This paper brief-ly describes an introduction to some of the features of ASD that may have an impact on the design of a housing unit that will be pre-sented later, meaning that this is not an ex-tensive description of ASD.
The hypothesis under investigation is that, by interacting with and observing a person in connection with his or her physical envi-ronment, the designer can unravel evidenc-es and insights to develop empathy and bet-ter understanding of a person with autism’s everyday experiences, which can in that way inform empathic designs that enhance and sustain a state of wellbeing. The research ex-plores how the inclusion of autistic people within the design process creates a shared experience, which helps to develop trust and empathy between the designer and the person with autism, enabling the designer to understand and appreciate different ways of being in the world.
Through research, empathy with the people on the spectrum has been created through various tools that enable the autism profes-sionals and the designer to communicate with the person whose ability to communi-cate is difficult, thus giving the designer the opportunity to look at things from a differ-ent perspective. After getting-together in-formation, I started to build a profile of the persons who will be residents in the further designed apartment. These profiles consist of basic information about them, as well as
ABSTRACT
their sensory preferences, and needs. The goal was to build the four profiles that have the most similarities because the experts I worked with claim that this was the only way this housing unit could be considered as successfully built.
Following extracted needs and require-ments discovered from research, the proj-ect was divided into design themes that ad-dressed specific issues. Each theme focuses on a group of needs that are addressed in further design. The result and key findings of this research led to the construction of a sign guide which is very helpful for other de-signers who want to develop these findings. After everything taken into account, the total focus was on creating an environment that aims to provide people with autism with a safe and enjoyable home that will positively impact their sustained development into in-dependent adults.
Key words:
autism, housing, perception, wellbeing, sensory environment
Questo documento è incentrato sul be-nessere delle persone con disturbi dello spettro autistico. Non esiste una definizione e un accordo definitivi sul fatto che il dis-turbo dello spettro autistico sia una singo-la condizione o una catena di condizioni di sviluppo neurologico simili o strettamente correlate suddivise in sottogruppi. Ques-to documenQues-to descrive brevemente un’in-troduzione ad alcune delle caratteristiche dell’ASD che potrebbero avere un impatto sulla progettazione di un’unità abitativa che verrà presentata in seguito, il che significa che questa non è una descrizione estesa dell’ASD.
L’ipotesi sotto inchiesta è che, interagendo e osservando una persona in relazione al suo ambiente fisico, il progettista può svelare prove e intuizioni per sviluppare empatia e migliore comprensione di una persona con esperienze quotidiane di autismo, che può in tal modo informare disegni empatici che migliorano e sostengono uno stato di ben-essere. La ricerca esplora come l’inclusione delle persone autistiche nel processo di pro-gettazione crei un’esperienza condivisa, che aiuta a sviluppare la fiducia e l’empatia tra il progettista e la persona con autismo, con-sentendo al progettista di comprendere e apprezzare diversi modi di essere nel mon-do.
Attraverso la ricerca, l’empatia con le persone nello spettro è stata creata attraverso vari strumenti che consentono ai professionisti dell’autismo e al progettista di comunicare con la persona la cui capacità di comunicare è difficile, dando così al progettista l’oppor-tunità di guardare le cose da una prospettiva diversa . Dopo aver raccolto le informazioni, ho iniziato a creare un profilo delle persone
ASTRATTO
che saranno residenti nell’appartamento progettato ulteriormente. Questi profili sono costituiti da informazioni di base su di essi, nonché dalle loro preferenze sensoriali ed esigenze. L’obiettivo era quello di costruire i quattro profili che hanno più somiglianze perché gli esperti con cui ho lavorato sosten-gono che questo era l’unico modo in cui questa unità abitativa poteva essere consid-erata costruita con successo.
In seguito alle esigenze e ai requisiti estratti scoperti dalla ricerca, il progetto è stato di-viso in temi di progettazione che hanno af-frontato questioni specifiche. Ogni tema si concentra su un gruppo di esigenze che ven-gono affrontate in un’ulteriore progettazi-one. Il risultato e le scoperte chiave di ques-ta ricerca hanno porques-tato alla costruzione di una guida alla progettazione che è molto utile per gli altri designer che vogliono svi-luppare queste scoperte. Dopo tutto ciò che è stato preso in considerazione, l’attenzione totale è stata sulla creazione di un ambiente che mira a fornire alle persone con autismo una casa sicura e piacevole che avrà un im-patto positivo sul loro sviluppo prolungato in adulti indipendenti.
Key words:
autismo, alloggio, percezione, benessere, ambiente sensoriale
A special thank you to professor Davide Crippa for all his support and consultations during the whole process of designing, and it was my pleasure working with him.
I would also like to thank the Institution for children and young people with ASD “Sta-cionar”, to their support staff, and family members for their generous contributions in terms of time, expertise, and creative input, without which the research would not have been possible.
Many thanks to the teacher, winner of the Best Educator Award and principal of pri-mary school Lidija Videnovic who intoduced me to the people with the autism spectrum disorder and helped me to understand the path I should take during my research.
And finally, very special thanks to the peo-ple living in the institution for peopeo-ple with autism “Stacionar” who participated in the interview and who taught me to think out-side the box.
Introduction
About Autism
Facts about Autism
Independency Problems
2.Research
Sensory Preferences
Case Studies
Personal Stories
Key Findings
Design Research
Introduction to Design Process
Design Themes
Design Guideline
Finishes and Materials
Design Concept
Conclusion
Bibliography
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CONTENT
LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1. Autism spectrum disorder levels Figure 2. Communication
Figure 3. Social interaction Figure 4. Specific behaviour Figure 5. Triad of impairments
Figure 6. Children diagnosed with ASD
Figure 7. Statistic in years about children diagnosed with ASD Figure 8. Quality of life
Figure 9. Design process and strategy Figure 10. Visual support cards
Figure 11. Visual support cards
Figure 12. Visual support card for touch
Figure 13. Visual support card for bright natural light Figure 14. Visual support card for music
Figure 15. Visual support card for colours
Figure 16. Center for housing and day care in Belgrade
Figure 17. Institution for children and young people with ASD “Stacionar” Figure 18. Courtyard of institution for adults with autism “Sunce”, Belgrade Figure 19. Sensory room “Stacionar”
Figure 20. Bedrooms and communal areas of "Stacionar"
Figure 22. Key criteria of environment
Figure 23. The theory of affordance, Understanding the properties of an object that allow it to function.
Figure 24. Photography / Cradle for adults Figure 25. Photography /Cradle for adults Figure 26. Photography /Cradle for adults Figure 27. Capital One/ corridor seating Figure 28. Capital One/ Niche seating Figure 29. Capital One/ Niche Seating Figure 30. Acoustic timber panels Figure 31. Living stones furniture Figure 32. Living stones furniture Figure 33. Mood board
Figure 34. Design themes table devision Figure 35. Cross section of floor
Figure 36. Acoustic window cross section Figure 37. Cross section of acoustic door Figure 38. Drawing of acoustic door
Figure 39. Photography of fabric that prevent liquids to penetrate Figure 40. Perspectiv view of plan section, 3D Rendering
Figure 41. Technical drawing of appartment with disposition of furniture Figure 39. Photography of fabric that prevent liquids to penetrate
Figure 40. Perspectiv view of plan section, 3D Rendering
Figure 41. Technical drawing of appartment with disposition of furniture Figure 42. Technical drawing of appartment with measures
Figure 43. Technical drawing of appartment with devision of areas, communal spaces
Figure 44. Perspective view of communal area, 3D rendering Figure 45. Perspective view of living room, 3D rendering
Figure 46. Perspective view of living room and kitchen, 3D rendering Figure 47. Detail of partial wall, 3D rendering
Figure 48. Perspective view of Kitchen, 3D rendering Figure 49. Perspective view of dining room, 3D rendering Figure 50. Perspective view of Relax room, 3D rendering Figure 51. Perspective view of Relax room, 3D rendering
Figure 52. Perspective view of Relax room capsule seating, 3D rendering
Figure 53. Technical drawing of appartment with devision of areas, private spaces Figure 54. Perspective view of private area, 3D rendering
Figure 55. Perspective view of Single bedroom, 3D rendering Figure 56. Perspective view of Master bedroom, 3D rendering
Figure 57. Technical drawing of appartment with devision of areas, Master bed-room
Figure 58. Perspective view of Master bedroom, 3D rendering Figure 59. Perspective view of Master bathroom, 3D rendering
Figure 60. Technical drawing of appartment with devision of areas, Toilets and wc Figure 61. Perspective view of Garden area, 3D rendering
Figure 62. Perspective view of Garden, close-up , 3D rendering Figure 63. Perspective view of Garden, 3D rendering
Figure 64. Drawing about senses, Touch Figure 65. Drawing about senses, Sound
Figure 66. Drawing about senses, Watering, Sound Figure 67. Drawing about senses, Smell
There are concerns of great importance about children with autism who will oneday become adults and live independently. This design project aims to translate this idea of independence into research work that will make it easier for people with autism as well as for architects and designers who can be guided by certain phases of this project in the future for further development of this topic.
Wellbeing is a subjective word that means different things to different people. The meaning of that word is determined by a few factors related to culture, values, and re-lationship with the world around us and in which we live. The fact that the wellbeing of people with autism is more demanding and involves many more factors is the reason why I choose to explore this topic. Although this topic is yet underdeveloped, it does not mean that autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a rare condition, considering that, accord-ing to recent analyses, autism affects 1 in 56 children. It is not only about a problem with perception, experience and interaction with their environment, they also have limits on verbal communication meaning that they cannot even share and explain their expe-rience with the rest of the population that might help them to develop it. So the well-being of a person on autism spectrum can-not be recognized, heard or understood in the same way as other people. Consequent-ly, their experience and the way they per-ceive generally remains unexplored.
The subject of my research will focus on the people closest to people with autism, pro-fessional support, psychiatrists and psychol-ogists, families and institutions who are in constant contact and live with this problem.
INTRODUCTION
With the intention to understand more close-ly the concerns about this topic, it should be noted that for autistic people life in a world designed by and for people who do not have neurological problems, even stresses that are considered as “normal” , in life of autistic person can be very challenging for their un-expected changes in behaviour, even wait-ing at a bus stop or walkwait-ing on a wet, glow-ing floor. These changes in behaviour lead to difficulties in relationships with other peo-ple and social isolation.
Designing for people with autism can be crucial for better understanding what hap-piness, comfort, and satisfaction really means for them. This can be translated in what design for the wellbeing of a person with autism can mean. To address this issue, the work is based on research collaboration with institutions that provide support and housing for people with autism, profession-als who work with them individually, and on cooperation with parents and guardians caring for the independent life of their chil-dren with this problem.
Furthermore, the development of empa-thy was explored in order to help designers to perceive the environment from the per-spective of an autistic person. This stage of research discloses how working with peo-ple with autism can inspire a designer to be more aware of the sensory qualities of the environment and to experience things from a different perspective and make their de-sign more inclusive. Considering that each autistic person has his or her own battles and cannot be compared to other persons on the spectrum, it is important to point out that the descriptions in this paper are re-lated to the persons with autism who have been observed, and cannot be generalized.
Although the main objective of this paper is to share design methods and ideas with other designers, families, professional sup-port and staff, and to encourage them to un-derstand that working together can create an environment that is more autism-friendly which can provide them with enjoyable and meaningful everyday life.
Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is a lifelong neurological complex condition that infl u-ences on how a person perceives the world around and how that person relates to and communicates with other people. Its caus-es are not fully understood, although there is some evidence that genetic factors are in-volved. The term ‘spectrum’ is used because, while all people with autism share three main areas of diffi culty, their condition af-fects them in different ways (Figure 1). These differences are incomparable, which means that some people on autism spectrum can live independently with their problems, while others require certain help and sup-port every day or in some specifi c activities. As spectrum disorder manifests itself in many ways, some people have learning dis-abilities while others have a very high level of intellectual ability. This leads to the ab-sence of a universal solution that can be ap-plied to everyone, but some common prob-lems can be identifi ed and treated for easier understanding of the world around them. These diffi culties are divided into three main groups: Communication, Social interaction and specifi c behaviour.
ABOUT AUTISM
Little support needed More support needed
High-functioning autism
Needs support
Social and communication skills and repetitive behaviours are
noticeable without support
Severe Autism
Needs very substantial support Social and communication skills and repetitive behaviours
severely impair daily life
Autism
Needs substantial support Social and communication skills
and repetitive behaviours are obvious even without support in
place
High-functioning autism is not an official term or diagnosis. It’s an informal one some people use when they talk about people with an autism spectrum disorder who can speak, read, write, and handle basic life skills. They may live independently, and are a lot like anyone else.
Like all people on the autism spectrum, peo-ple who are high functioning have a hard time with social interaction and communi-cation. They don’t naturally read social cues and might find it difficult to make friends. They can get so stressed by a social situation that they shut down. They don’t make much eye contact or small talk.
People on the spectrum who are high-func-tioning can also be very devoted to routine and order. They might have repetitive and restrictive habits that seem odd to others. There’s a wide range of how they do with school and work. Some do very well in school, while others get overwhelmed and can’t concentrate.
Some can hold a job, and others find that re-ally hard to do. It all depends on the person and the situation.But even for someone on the spectrum who can do a lot, social skills are usually underdeveloped.
Similar behaviour has someone with As-perger’s syndrome, you might notice two things right off. He or she is just as smart as other, but has more trouble with social skills. Also tends to have an obsessive focus on one topic or perform the same behaviors again and again.
Have deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills. Their social impair-ments apparent even with supports in place and has limited initiation of social interac-tions. Reduced or abnormal responses to social overtures from others is also present. For example, a person who speaks in simple sentences, whose interaction is limited to narrow special interests, and who has mark-edly odd nonverbal communication.
Inflexibility of behavior, difficulty coping with change, or other restricted/repetitive behaviors appear frequently enough to be obvious to the casual observer and interfere with functioning in a variety of contexts. Dis-tress and difficulty changing focus or action.
Severe deficits in verbal and nonverbal social communication skills cause severe impair-ments in functioning, very limited initiation of social interactions, and minimal response to social overtures from others. For exam-ple, a person with few words of intelligible speech who rarely initiates interaction and, when he or she does, makes unusual ap-proaches to meet needs only and responds to only very direct social approaches.
Inflexibility of behavior, extreme difficulty coping with change, or other restricted and repetitive behaviors markedly interfere with functioning in all spheres. Also great distress and difficulty changing focus or action is noticable.
Autism
Communication
People on the spectrum often have subtle problems using language, making facial ex-pressions, controlling their tone of voice or the actual words they use. It is diffi cult to understand how they express themselves, not just what they perceive when listening to or watching others. There are some cases where people may have limited or no ability to talk.
They have a problem with processing infor-mation. If there is too much information it can lead to overload, so it is important when communicate with them to say less, without too many questions, facial expressions and body language. Also, environment in the moment of communication is very import-ant (noisy/ crowded) because Sensory input may be affecting how much information they can process.
Social Interaction
People with autism tend to be passive in social relationships, they fi nd themselves diffi cult for social/ emotional connections. During these troubles with understanding some rules, sometimes they are prioritizing their own needs over other’s. For example, in back-and-forth conversations they may interrupt other person talking without wait-ing for their turn, because they have limited understanding that their actions and words can affect other people. Also, they are hav-ing diffi culties to make or keep friends, they may state that they do not need friends and isolate themselves socially from others. Specifi c behaviour
There can be diffi culty in managing tran-sitions and dealing with changes in rou-tine. Repetitive behaviours, such as pacing, hand fl apping or rocking and persistent
Figure 2. Communication
Figure 3. Social interaction
Figure 4. Specifi c behaviour
Hi, how are you? huh???
preoccupation with certain subjects and objects are typical and may be a tool for self-calming. People with autism may also display some or all the following characteris-tics, which can present themselves as either challenges or strengths, but all of which have implications for the design of their home en-vironments:
-Sensory abnormalities such as unusual re-actions to stimulation or diffi culty in making sense of stimulation. Certain visual details, colours, sounds, smells, tastes or textures can cause both distress and enjoyment
-A need for more personal space and dislike of physical contact
-Poor awareness of danger
-An inability to generalise concepts, which means skills learnt in one situation may not be transferred and employed in a similar sit-uation
-Poor coordination and balance
-Diffi culties with transitions, need for taking the same route or eating the same food ev-ery day.
-Many people with autism feel very anxious when asked to change their routine or sched-ule, reactions to change can be extreme. Perseveration can be really good for people with autism since it is often related to their passionate interests and it may lead them to make friendship or even career. But in some examples it is really roadblocking behavior because it is not only disturbing for other people but also a major problem for com-munication and engagement in the world. There are no explanations what cause that kind of behavior, but some different theories exist and according to them there are some treatments. All treatments have had some success with some autistic people, but it doesn’t mean that it will helps to the other.
COMMUNICATION
Diffi culties with process-ing and retainprocess-ing verbal information
Diffi culty understanding: -Jokes and sarcasm -Social use of language -Body language,
facial expression
SOCIAL INTERACTION Diffi culties with
-Friendship
-Managing unstructured parts of the day
-Working co-operatively
SPECIFIC BEHAVIOUR Narrow, repetitive pattern of activities
Routies in space or time Routines related to special skills
FACTS ABOUT AUTISM
In 2018 the CDC defi ned that approximately 1 in 59 children is diagnosed with ASD
There is no medical detection for autism. In 2018 the CDC (The Centers for Disease Con-trol and Prevention) defined that approx-imately 1 in 59 children is diagnosed with ASD. These registers are extrapolated from smaller studies and vary from one report to the other.
Autism affects both women and men of all racial, ethnic and socio-economic back-grounds, but the ratio for men and women is different. Boys are four times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls; 1 in 37 boys and 1 in 151 girls.
It is likely that about 50% of people with au-tism have IQ scores in the average to above average range, and proportionality of these are those with intellectual disabilities. For some of them it is not possible to use tradi-tional methods for evaluating cognitive abil-ities because of their communication im-pairments.
In the latest revision of the diagnostic cri-teria (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition; DSM-5, 2013, American psychiatric Association), sensory sensitivities are for the first time recognised as a core characteristic of autism. This can affect a person’s ability to interpret, filter, and regulate sensory information from the environment, leading to person becoming hypersensitive (over-stimulated) and/or hy-posensitive (under-stimulated) by what they sense, influencing how they perceive and ex-perience the environment in which they live.
With an estimated 50,000 adolescents with autism becoming adults each year, it is more important than ever that there are effective resources and services to help them with the challenges they might face.
There’s no cure for autism, but several ap-proaches can help to improve social func-tioning, learning, and quality of life for both children and adults with autism. As we previ-ously said, autism is a spectrum-based con-dition. Some people may need little to no help at all, while others may require inten-sive therapy and support assistance covering 24 hours. That assistance can be in their own homes as tenants, they can live alone or with other with the similar needs or in specialist autism residential accommodation.
Depending on individual needs, assistance may include personal care and all house re-lated tasks, meal preparation, grocery shop-ping and house cleaning, or it may be only a simply few hours a week emotional support or help with managing finance.
Literature reviewed in the past 10 years shows that services for adults with ASD are yet underdeveloped. Autism specific ser-vices and institutions works on the initiative of voluntary organizations, groups of par-ents or local autism societies which are not developed as it should be and there are not many of them, especially not in rural areas or smaller cities. But a fragmented approach to the development of adult services exists and leads to a variety of support programs that aim to increase independence and possibil-ities of choice.
Moving out of the family home is one of the biggest decisions in a person’s life. For a per-son on the autism spectrum, finding and securing a house and caregiving supports is one of the hardest decisions. Families can make this planning easier through some tools and resources which can guide them through process. This section contains in-formation that can help in decision making and planning, not only for families but also for other architects and designers that are doing research about same or similar topic. It should be started with some basic deci-sions about where they feel safe and comfort-able, what type of neighbourhood, whether is that rural or urban area. Also related to this first question is the type of housing they want to live in.
As I mention it before every person on the autism spectrum have different needs and level of support when become “indepen-dent”, and this vary from 24 hours per day to few hours per week or minimal support. There are also other issues that must be con-sidered for further organization, as health services coordination and medication ad-ministration, behavioural and mental health support, career support, social opportuni-ties, money management, etc.
In large institutions residences are not ap-propriate for most people on the autism spectrum. These over-simulating environ-ments are occupied by large numbers of people with the same daily routines that are determined by staff rather than residents.
In large institutions residences are not ap-propriate for most people on the autism spectrum. These over-simulating environ-ments are occupied by large numbers of people with the same daily routines that are determined by staff rather than residents. Smaller living units such as group homes or self-contained flats in a single building have been shown to lessen the incidences of chal-lenging behaviour, with individuals benefit-ing from more variety and stimulation from their living environment and inclusion in a community. Whilst these new types of resi-dential building form the focus of this study, it is recognised that they may not be suitable for all people with autism.
Support workers adopt many roles, but it is important to mention that there is a big difference between support groups for chil-dren and adult person. When they become adults and want to live independently, they rarely receive help and support in the form of therapies, because existing research sug-gests that treatment is most effective when started before or in age of 3, so in that case most of them give up on treatments when become adults and receive support for house related tasks and personal care.
Still, many of the treatments designed for children can help adults as well. Applied behavior analysis (ABA) is one of the most widely used autism treatments for both adults and children. It refers to a series of techniques designed to encourage positive behaviors using a reward system. There are several types of ABA and one of them that is used in this project is positive behaviour support (PBS). This involves making environ-mental changes to the home or classroom in order to make good behaviour feel more rewarding.
When designing it is essential to have an un-derstanding of the specifi c topic, to make a good research. For most things that design-ers and architects are facing with there are certain methods that can be used from pre-vious researches and studies. In this case, it is of great importance to understand how people on autism spectrum might experi-ence the environment and perceive people and object in it, but it is diffi cult because the way they see the world is on the edge of our experiences. Moreover, ASD cannot be sim-ulated with tools such as age suites or low vision googles.
There is growing understanding of the infl u-ence our physical environments have on our wellbeing inside environmental psychology architecture and experimental psychology. For example, there are some environmental adjustments made to compensate for our sensorial intolerance as no “mobile phone zones” in public spaces, quiet carriages on trains, massage chairs in busy airports or shopping malls. However, sensory tolerance of people on autism spectrum are more ex-treme, but their needs have rarely been con-sidered.
For better understanding how environment and interior design affect the health and wellbeing of people with ASD, already ex-isting published works and architectural re-searches about environment effects on the people on autism spectrum were reviewed. This part of the research study was used for making right sort of questions for profes-sionals who work with autistic people such as support workers and psychologists. The aim was to fi nd out how residents use and respond to their living environment and how support workers interact with them.
The most important and inspiring fact from this experience was that some of residents have diffi culties with communication and various simulations, but they also have de-sire for independency.Development of uni-versal themes and design guide was made through stories, observations, and after that, through the comments and recommenda-tions on the work given by professionals who already work on the same topic.
STAGE 1 STAGE 2 STAGE 3
Connecting, Communicating, building trust and
empathy Gathering and documenting context specifi c insight Generating design ideas • Visits to supported-living housing to observe how people with autism are currently supported in their home and how they interact with their envi-ronment.
• After defi ning and veloping universal de-sign themes, dede-sign concept was made, and contributors were invit-ed to comment on the work.
• Development of recom-mendations.
• Insights were drawn from the stories, inter-views and observations
SENSORY PREFERENCES
People with autism generally live in an envi-ronment that does not consider their diver-sity and unusual response to sensory input. If their reactions and preferences were better understood, it would be easier to design an environment that would meet their needs. In addition to difficulties in communication and social interaction, people with autism have unexpected reactions to certain sensory inputs. Knowing about differences between people with autism, everyone responds dif-ferently to sensory activities. Some adults with autism seek sensory experiences, while others try to avoid them or not notice them at all. Therefore, it is important to provide visual, acoustic and tactile qualities in their environment that can be modified and bal-anced to suit their preferences and to calm their culinary senses disagreements.
To make it easier to determine the sensory preferences of adults with autism, specially made cards entitled “What do you like?” are used for this part of the research. Each card shows an activity or experience that is pre-sented through simple words with a photo illustration. Cards are a visual questionnaire that makes it easier to communicate with people with autism who have limited lan-guage use. Together with family members, friends and support from employees, these cards have been used by the individual to ex-press what he or she likes, dislikes or is neu-tral about the topic on the card. This activity aims to make people with autism active par-ticipants in their own sensory profiling, rath-er than waiting for someone else to express an opinion on their behalf.
When cards are classified into these three groups of likes, dislikes and neutral, a visual
sensory profile about the individual is cre-ated that is later used for decision making of support and housing options. In this case, where four people will live in one housing unit, this method is also used in the case of selecting individuals with similar sensory preferences and needs. The photos on the cards are literal which is important to make it clear to a person with autism what is re-quired and what is on the card, there are no illustrations.Research has shown that peo-ple with autism have the ability to receive at one time all the information that hap-pens around them at that moment. They are not able to filter them, so for this reason each card is made with as little subjects as possible, and the features in the photos are highlighted with the use of colour, contrasts, composition, to highpoint the question they are asked about.
For people who are not professionals, on the back of the card, there are tips and a quick guide on how to identify, interpret, and re-spond to a participant in this research. In the situation where the participant does not recognize a particular experience or has not experienced it so far, it is necessary at that moment to create that sensory experience and to find out together whether he likes, dislikes or is neutral about that stimulation. This knowledge leads to ideas about con-ducting sensory activities.
Once a profiles image is created and select-ed from this research, they can be translat-ed into the guide for decisions making in interior design. For example, if the selected cards reflect that the resident likes to keep his home tidy and clean, to enjoy socializing with people, and to love listening to music and watching flashing lights, glossy surfaces
and reflections, then those cards create a moodboard for adaptation housing units to meet his needs. Using this information, simple moves and changes in home envi-ronment can improve the quality of life for these residents. For example, in the Living Room, seating areas that allow different seating settings and disposition and provide more small seating in the room, encourage the person to engage in social activities with other people. Inserting small mirrors that re-flect light between bookshelves can produce a kind of visual stimulation and encourage them to explore and appreciate their home environment.
People who are drawn to bright natu-ral light may benefit from using sunlight lamps, espe-cially in winter months. People who avoid bright natural light may be over-sensitive to visual stimulation. Small changes to the home environment, such as the addition of dimmable lights, black-out curtains, shutters or self-adhe-sive window film, can make a difference to their comfort. Wearing sunglasses may also help.
Bright natural light
Bright natural light
Figure 13. Visual support card for bright Figure 12. Visual support card for touch
Getting messy
Getting messy
People who dislike getting messy or hav-ing thhav-ings on their hands or feet may be oversensitive to tactile stimulation.
Gradual introduction of different material surfaces may help these people to gain confidence in anticipating the sensations they will get from touching different ob-jects.
Figure 14. Visual support card for music
Figure 15. Visual support card for colours
If there are types of music that you enjoy listening to, list them here:
Listening to music
Listening to music
In shared spaces, different visual prefer-ences and sensitivities can be satisfied by using muted, matt and harmonious colour schemes. Colour can be added as appropriate by using decorative objects, pictures and textiles.
In private spaces, people can experiment with their use of colours.
Pink colour
How they work?
Experts at the Center, first and foremost, in-volve cooperation and joint work of defectol-ogists and expert associates in solving prob-lems and improving work with users. For the sake of more efficient work, the expert team operates on several levels, in accordance with the problems being solved.
The aim of this Center is to: • Improving customer service
• Participation in solving problems related to users’ health and affective states
• Coordination of work and participation in the work of expert teams in organization-al units
• Work on implementing service standards in daycare and inpatient units
• Reviewing of professional literature, co-operation with professional, scientific and educational institutions
• Participation in seminars and confer-ences
• Project development and participation in project competitions
What kind of of activities they have?
In addition to regular schedule activities in the institution, many contents are realized outside the institution through participation in various events and competitions.
There are regular visitings of events, exhibi-tions, competiexhibi-tions, outings to the city, trips. Recreational mountain stays are also orga-nized every year.
With the donation of the HRH Princess Caterina Karadjordjevic Foundation, the Center also has an equipped sensory room, which is of great importance to the users. With a donation from the National Office of the President of the Republic, a trim cabinet is installed in which their users engage daily.
CASE STUDIES
Center for housing and day care for children and youth with disabilities, Belgrade, Serbia
Figure 16. Center for housing and day care in Belgrade
Figure 17. Institution for children and young people with ASD “Stacionar”
What does this institution provide?
“Stacionar” institution for children and youth with autism is a republican social welfare institution that includes housing, nutrition, protection, care and overall treatment for the rehabilitation of children and youth with autism.
Stacionar building is 1000 square meters, surrounded by a landscaped yard of 15 acres. The area consists of 6 living rooms, a senso-ry room, a trim cabinet. There are 9 sharing dorm rooms for the user’s night rest. Stacio-nar has its own kitchen, dining room, medi-cal block, sanitary facilities, offices and other areas (technical service, laundry, warehouse) necessary for the functioning of the institu-tion. The building has been renovated and the rooms are equipped to high standards. What is the capacity of this institution and how is it divided?
The planned capacity of the Stationary is 46 users. Assuming that the housing needs are higher, Stacionar is currently caring for 48 users. Users are divided into 7 groups ac-cording to age, clinical picture and abilities. Currently the largest number of users is over 20 years of age. Separate dormitories are available for younger and older users.
What kind of support they have?
10 defectologists work with users. The work involved therapists, physical education teachers and caregivers. Inpatient health care is covered by a general practitioner and pediatric psychiatrist and 12 nurses.
Institution for children and young people with ASD “Stacionar”, Belgrade, Serbia
Children and youth from the area of the city of Belgrade and the Republic of Serbia are accommodated in the institutions of home placement of the Center.
The procedure for admission to the center is as follows:
Admission of users takes place in accordance with the Rules on the admission, transfer and dismissal of users.
The parents of the applicants for admission apply to the competent Center for Social Work with a written request for admission to this Institution.
The Center for Social Work completes the necessary documentation, which together with the application for admission, sends it to this Institution.
The Admissions Committee reviews the sub-mitted documentation, reviews the candi-dates and then decides on the admission of candidates, after which the period must be continuous - 10 working days for evaluation and 10 working days for developing an indi-vidual support plan.
After this period has expired, the Admissions Committee shall take a decision and inform the referring authority and the parents ac-cordingly.
Parents declare their acceptance of the work program and the Code of Conduct for Em-ployees and Parents.
After the decision on admission of candi-dates is made, the competent Center for So-cial Work issues a decision on admission to this Institution.
Institution for children and young people with ASD “Stacionar”, Belgrade, Serbia
Figure 18. Courtyard of institution for adults with autism “Sunce”, Belgrade
Figure 21. Activities organized by institu-tion “Stacionar” and “Sunce”
Figure 20. Bedrooms and communal areas of “Stacionar”
Marija is 31 years old. Six years ago, she moved from her family home into a two-bedroom apartment at the “Stacionar” Institution in Belgrade. In this apartment she lives alone, has a large living room for various activities, her own room as well as a room for support workers and guests. She loves her neigh-borhood because everything is close to her. There is a pastry shop in her street that she loves to visit, she says she enjoys the am-biance because it owns a garden that has many different plants that relax her.
She does not like a strict schedule of activi-ties, so every morning she writes down what she would like to do that day. She enjoys sit-ting in a comfortable big armchair and surf-ing the internet on her tablet. She spends most of her free time in room at the com-puter, so it is important for her to have her own toilet and comfortable seating.
She likes her room tidy and without much detail and furniture. The other thing that matters to her is that her floor in the room should be covered with carpet because she likes to walk barefoot and sense of texture on her feet gives her security.
“I don’t have many colors in my room, but I enjoy the colors of nature and the shadows that are created from plants.”
PERSONAL STORIES
Nikola is 28 and lives in an apartment with another adult with autism who has high needs for support worker. He needs day-to-day support and has an assigned worker who looks after his finances, goes to grocery shopping with him, and is available for five hours a day.
He is extremely quiet and withdrawn, and he likes be his own company. He understands verbal communication but has difficulty un-derstanding everything what is being asked of him. He has speech limitations and for the interview with him the visual cards helped me a lot (page 31).
He loves a structured day, and he likes to decide for himself the activities he will have that day, because it is important to him in what order they take place. He loves to stay in nature and is not upset by the weather changings. He loves spinning objects, but spinning can emotionally upset him to such an extent that he loses control of himself, and that kind of objects tend to be locked away from his surroundings.
He likes to plant and arrange the garden, which makes him calm and improves his confidence.
Lola spent most of her life in foster families. Her last family where she lived became con-cerned about her existence in the future as they entered the 70s. When she turned 24, she began to look for an alternative accom-modation solution where she can live. She found it very quickly. It was an appartment that she shared with her roommate at one of the support living residences.
Before moving in, Lola carefully selected the colors and furniture she would like to have in her new room. She also visited her support team to arrange a care plan and enjoyed planning for the future.
It is very important for Loli to go for walks with her support vorker, as well as spend time with her foster family at least once a week.
During her moveings, Lola experienced a long period of anxiety and challenging be-havior, but when she moved into her home she showed great progress in indepen-dence. She enjoys watering plants and ev-erything that involves using water, because the sound of the water soothes her.
Marko is 24 years old and has high function-ing autism. His results he has achieved are amazing. He constantly appears at various trainings and conferences to talk about autism.
He enjoys listening to music and writing lyr-ics, which helps him communicate verbally. He currently lives with three other peo-ple who have Asperger’s Syndrome and high-functioning autism, but plans to look for other home because the atmosphere currently in their home negatively affects his personal stability and comfort.
He needs support only with his finances and understanding other people’s behav-ior. Cooking food in the kitchen causes him stress, so he only uses the kitchen to make snacks and some light meals. Because of his high-functioning autism, there is a diffi-culty getting support from local authorities, because they do not find his condition as someone who needs help. For this reason, his family must hire a support person or one of his friends.
His desire is to have more control over his private space, made according to his per-sonal preferences.
Whether autistic or not, individuals all share and live in the same multi-sensorial em-bodied world. The environment is furnished with designed objects whose sensory prop-erties and affordances infl uence what we do and how we feel and behave. Design does not only result in form and function, it also results in feelings, affecting our state of wellbeing. Feelings are connected to our senses, which enable us to experience and respond to our environment, which can be very different from one person to the next. To create a better fi t and enhance our levels of wellbeing we continually control, modify, and adjust ourselves to the environment, by designing, adapting, repurposing, and signi-fying new affordances. For example, to feel happy and energised we may turn the music up and dance and to feel more comfortable we may choose to sit in a no-mobile-phone ‘quiet’ carriage on a train.
But imagine if you had no or little control. Imagine if a sound became intolerably loud but you were unable to turn it down, or the light too bright but you were unable to switch it off. This situation can be the case for many people with autism, whose experiences and perceptions of the physical environment are individual and unique. For example, the majority of people would recognise a paper clip as a tool to hold papers together, but for some autistic person, it offers comfort and support; fans are used to help us cool down when we are hot, but for autistic person the purpose of a fan is generating a pleasing sound. We might walk through shadows on the ground, but for autistic person they are black rectangular holes that he could easily fall into and hence a source of much anxiety.
KEY FINDINGS
sensory perceptual differences- touch, sound, sight, smell, and movement
Avoiding fl uorescent lighting. sensory sensitive
enviroment
Spreading of smells through house
Noises
Most helpful is isolating habitable rooms away from trafi c noises and other
Movement through the house Wider coridors and higher ceilings
Visibility through the space
Personal Space
To self-regulate from other people
Flexibility
Change according to the needs
Affordances are the key mechanism that de-signers use to trigger understanding and ac-tion in others. As studies show that autistic people appear to have a different use/under-standing for affordances, this means it is im-portant to develop different design methods and empathic understandings. Like visiting another country whose culture, values, and language are very different to our own, the process of listening, observing, and adapting ourselves accordingly to connect, learn, and understand was of particular importance to this research.
The physical environment generates action opportunities and an affordance is the ‘fi t’ between a person and the environment, which then creates opportunities for actions, whether good or bad. It is therefore the ‘fi t’ that determines these opportunities for ac-tions and if the affordance is not compatible with a person’s capabilities, they may fi nd it hard to ‘fi t in’ with their environment. This is a key concept, where exploring the ‘fi t’ be-tween the capabilities of a person with the environment that they inhabit is an import-ant part of design activity.
To defi ne structure for understanding how the design of environments can affect peo-ple with Autism Spectrum Disorder in this phase of the project it was important to use material from research phase. Common themes and patterns were defi ned. The aim of this project is to give people with autism the ability to independently live in a safe area with special criteria. In this way, they are enabled to make better progress and improve their lives. Proper setup can pro-foundly impact on their motivation and self- confi dence, wellbeing and behaviour.
Button- Push Switch- Flip Knob- Rotate
Light feedback
Figure 23. The theory of affordance Understanding the properties of an object that allow it to function.
Reaction to the environment can differ no-ticeably because of the variations in be-haviour, abilities and sensitivities of people on the autism spectrum, but some groups of behaviour can be separated and taken for further study. When we talk about institu-tions and models of support, there has been a shift which advocate individual planning rather than fixed schedules made by staff. Individual needs and wishes of residents are placed on the first place, but on the oth-er hand it should be considoth-ered that these buildings are homes as much as places of work. For better success of homes like this one, compatibility of residents has to be properly determined according to their sim-ilar needs, routines and life stage.
To create a holistic picture of how residents engage within the environment, we should examined their different interactions and re-actions to three environmental contexts of the home: the garden, the interior, and ev-eryday objects. All three vary in scale, action opportunity, and sensory elements, present-ing different levels of control, the garden be-ing the least controllable environment due to the unpredictable nature of the outdoors. These findings were distilled into four de-sign themes that were used to drive the next stages of the project. They are expressed in terms of the qualities and performance cri-teria that are critical to improving housing for adults with autism. Some of the qualities are specific to people with autism whilst oth-ers may benefit wider groups of people. They are written in a manner that tries to help ar-chitects and designers ask the right sort of questions at the briefing stage. The aim is to inspire creative responses to these qualities rather than provide prescriptive rules or reg-ulations.
DESIGN RESEARCH
There is almost no designed furniture that is autistic-friendly, if we compare it to the amount of current stuff being designed. But in the case of this research, I paid attention to some design solutions that seemed more inclusive for some reason.
Cradle for adults
The Cradle came out of research regarding children with RMD or rhythmic movement disorder. The chair provides a safe, relaxing environment for them to calm their sens-es but the solution seemed applicable to anyone looking to enjoy. The entire piece is flatpack ready and all materials are sourced from environmentally friendly resources, right down to the glue that binds the initial plywood layers. Designers: Richard Clarkson, Grace Emmanual, Kalivia Russel, Eamon Moore, Brodie Cambell, Jeremy Brooker and Joya Boerrigter
Capital One
Challenged to develop a design concept that would support a collaborative culture, IBI Group made the interior design of Capi-tal One’s new Toronto head office.
“We took underutilized space in the office and made it the focal point of our design. Representing introspective and inspiring spaces that encourage creativity and con-templative thought, the five unique corridor design concepts are tied together through names that nod to the word “In” (stinct, In-line, In-time, In-focus and In-sight),” said Bar-ry Nathan, IBI Group Practice Lead, Interior Design. “A refuge for staff from the tradition-al workplace, these spaces bring elements of the outside ‘in’. We could not have fulfilled this bold concept without a forward-think-ing and supportive client, which we were very fortunate to have.”
Figure 26. Cradle for adults Figure 25. Cradle for adults
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Figure 28. Capital One/ Niche seating
Figure 29. Capital One/ Niche Seating Figure 27. Capital One/ corridor seating
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Acoustic timber panels
Ecoustic® Blade is a highly-functional acoustic system designed for use as ceiling and wall claddings. Acoustic timber blades are designed for modularity and are pre-fin-ished allowing for simple installation and ease of ongoing maintenance. This system features a black acoustic scrim backing to enhance sound absorption, which is ideal for architectural installations where rever-beration control is critical to the comfort and amenity of the room.
New landscape- Living stones
Surrealist set of oversized pebbles, a rest-ing area with varyrest-ing sizes and shapes that can be arranged according to any model, for contemporary interiors. Pebbles as fanciful landscape for permanent holidays, which can be transformed into an enjoyable do-mestic game.
Figure 32. Living stones furniture Figure 31. Living stones furniture
The goal of this project was to create an environment, that is more autism-friendly, which can provide enjoyable and meaning-ful everyday life for people on spectrum. The design project consists of a single floor apartment made of 2 single rooms, 1 mas-ter bedroom, a kitchen, one livingroom and bathrooms. Also there are enviroments for other activities as relaxing and sensory room, and garden.
Stakeholders
• Four persons with autism spectrum dis-order
Characteristics: People with different per-ception of the world, but still all four of them have similar needs and sensory preferences. Role: Residents, directly connected with the environment and design project
Expectations: The need for private space, pleasant atmosphere, clear use of everyday objects and areas
• Support workers
Characteristics: People who are hired by family members for helping people with au-tism few hours a week
Role: Workers/ support – semi periodical us-ers
Expectations: Making environment easi-er for managing and solving problems. The need for restricted access to some parts of house and objects to avoid injuring of peo-ple with autism.
• Friends and family members
Characteristics: People who care about and visit people with autism, and as support workers, they are helping in some situations giving them both emotional and physical support
Role: Visitors- periodical users
Expectations: Safe environment, adequate for people with autism spectrum disorter
Design responses to these themes are ex-pressed as guidance and concepts to show how they might be used and applied in real spaces.
The four design themes were summarised as follows:
Progress and development:
Improve the motivation, self-confidence and self-worth of residents by inspiring them to explore their environment and providing spaces for developing their interests and skills.
Causes:
Reduce the causes of tension and anxiety, by providing understandable, clear spaces that meet the sensory needs of individuals.
Strength:
Keep residents and staff safe in a strong en-vironment that is tolerant of accidental use. Support tools:
Give staff the tools to deliver people-centred care and support
PROGRESS AND DEVELOPMENT
CAUSES
STRENGHT
SUPPORT
TOOLS
INDEPENDENCE SOCIAL INTERACTION ACCESS AFFORDABILITY EVOLUTION SENSATION SAFETY PERCEPTION DURABILITY REFUGE EASE OF MAINTENANCE EMPOWERMENT TOLERANCE COMMUNICATION PERSONAL SUP-PORT UNOBTRUSIVE MONITORING
Progress and development
To improve the quality of life for adults with autism, there must be opportunities for them to make free choices and be inde-pendent. Simple activities like answering the front door and enabling them to make choices and take on responsibilities such as preparing food, cleaning and doing laundry can add meaning to everyday life. Increased autonomy and multiple options present ambiguities, which people with autism find difficult to process and this can increase anxiety. The challenge therefore is to design environments with what appear to be limit-ed options whilst at the same time building in systems that allow them to be adapted to the changing needs of residents. Critical to the personal growth and development of adults with autism is residential accommo-dation that feels like their home and helps them discover the lives they want have.
Independence
Creating home which responds to residents needs and enabling them to do things by themselves and to care about their environ-ment increases self-esteem.
Social interaction
Providing spaces with different purpose al-lows residents to engage in social activities on their own terms. Enabling residents to have both privacy and social engagement can result in increased levels of social inter-action.
Access
Allowing access to the whole building, out door spaces, creates a sense of ownership.
Affordability
Offering a variety of affordable housing op-tions with graduated levels of support can help residents progress.
Evolution
Providing home environments that respond to the changing interests and aspirations of residents can enhance their self-develop-ment.
People with autism can be prone to acute and disabling anxiety, resulting in unusual reactions and complex behaviour. They can become fearful of ordinary daily activities. This can be compounded by communica-tion issues and sensory abnormalities that affect the ways people with autism process stimuli in the environment. Through careful selection of design elements, triggers that lead to agitation or increase anxiety can be reduced.
Residents may demonstrate under-devel-oped or overdevelunder-devel-oped sensitivities to stim-ulation, resulting in adverse reactions to the presence or absence of certain visual details, colours, textures, noises or aromas. This vary from one individual to another and so envi-ronments have to provide ranges of stimula-tion.
People with autism can be particularly sen-sitive about the amount of personal space they occupy in group situations and may feel threatened if distances are small. They may need to retreat to a private space.
Sensation
Designing consistent environments with appropriate lighting, acoustics, ventilation and use of colour and material can minimise sensory overload. Providing stimulation with under-developed sensory sensitivities can reduce complex behaviour.
Perception
Designing navigable environments can help residents
orientate themselves. Providing clear func-tion of specific spaces can help residents un-derstand what is expected of them.
Designing open interiors that increase pre-dictability and legibility can help residents estimate potential social interactions.
Refuge
Offering private spaces that can be person-alised, as well as withdrawal spaces periph-eral to communal areas allows residents to retreat from group situations when over-whelmed.
Empowerment
Designing environments in which stimula-tion can be calibrated by residents provides a sense of control and empowerment.
People with autism can make unexpected movements. They can show an under-devel-oped sensitivity to pain and temperature. These characteristics mean there can be risk to residents and preventative actions may needed to be taken to protect them from in-jury. Protective features can look institution-al and create a sense of containment or be-come the targets of challenging behaviour.
The specification of safe, durable environ-ments needs to be balanced with the aim of providing aesthetically homelike accommo-dation.
Residents can be further helped to com-plete tasks necessary for daily living by de-signing environments that are easy to clean and repair. This has the added benefit of giv-ing staff more time to support residents in these activities and in developing skills for independent living.
Safety
Controlling access to areas of risk and using safety materials.
Durability
Using durable materials can reduce the im-pact of heavy behaviour such as jumping, running..
Ease of maintenance
If home environments are easy to maintain, residents are more likely get involved with household tasks like cleaning.
Tolerance
Designing environments that can withstand unintended use can lessen emotional im-pact for residents when they make mistakes.
Supported-living residences are also places of work. The design of these buildings affects the quality of service and contributes to staff morale. People with autism have difficulties in tell their wishes and feelings and in un-derstanding verbal and gestural communi-cations, which impacts on the relationship between them and support workers.
Designing environments and the objects within such that residents can better under-stand how their actions relate to outcomes can motivate residents and make daily ac-tivities more manageable. If sufficient space is provided for staff to give one-to-one sup-port then residents are more likely to carry out household tasks rather than staff simply doing the work for them.
Communication
Using visual prompts to impart information, warnings and reinforce orientation within home environments can help residents un-derstand what is expected of them. Provid-ing tools for spontaneous non-verbal com-munication between residents and between residents and staff can increase interaction and enhance confidence. Embedding in-formation in the environment about how it should be used can motivate residents to take on household tasks.
Personal Support
Providing appropriate environments for one-to-one assisting with personal hygiene care can help staff give quality support. Providing facilities for staff to record observations and capture what residents like, enjoy and re-spond to can improve continuity of support. Unobtrusive Monitoring
Embedding strategies and assistive technol-ogies in the home environment allows staff to safely monitor residents from a distance.
Consider:
Getting to know residents and understand-ing their individual preferences. It was im-portant to select four residents with sim-milar needs and sensory preferences, as mentioned in introduction of design pro-cess.
Specific type of building is determined in a breafing stage of this project. It is a one floor house with garden.
Taken into account from their needs and re-quirements, this housing unite should be in stable neighbourdhood, with good access to public transport, close to shops, health ser-vices, education facilities, places of employ-ment, and also close to pedestrian and cycle friendly routes.
Also it should be considered that scale and style of this house unite must be simmilar to the style of the building with the neighbour-ing buildneighbour-ings to increase integration with the community.
Should be avoided:
Location of residental buiding near road-ways with noisy traffic, or busy commer-cial sites. Also avoid buildings that allows residents to be overlooked by neighbours. Areas that can be affected by flooding, which could force residents to be displaced. Layout
Consider:
In a breafing stage of the project numbers of room are determined. Sizes of rooms should be of domestic scale and proportion. But during their requirement of support work-ers, there can be as many support workers as
DESIGN GUIDELINE
there are residents using a space, so people with autism may be sensitive about amount of personal space they occupy in group sit-uations. From that reason larger spaces are required.
Good organization of building layout to help establish routines and understanding by specifying spaces according to their primary function. This reinforces that a kitchen is for food preparation, a dining room for eating and bedroom for sleeping. A simple layout can minimise confusion.
Provide clear visual access throughout the building. Clear sightlines can help staff mon-itor residents in an unobtrusive way.
Separate areas such as living room from bed-rooms to minimise transmission of noise. Smooth transitions spaces.
Making wider circulation spaces with pass-ing bays so resident may pass one another without conflict. Minimise blind corners so that residents can avoid unplaned social en-counters.
Location of the kitchen should be next to the dining area, with an view to outdoor areas and main living space, to minimise travel distances. Position rooms to maximize nat-ural daylight, and view on the nature which can improve their mood.
Good acces to outdoor spaces.
Provide sufficient space for staff to store files, records.
Using forms, materials light and colour to make a difference between communal spac-es from private spacspac-es. This can give a feeling of ownership.
Make bigger rooms and separate them with colours and furniture, rather than specifying multiple smaller rooms.
Using curved walls along circulation spaces. Locating physical activity spaces in central part of the building to increase awereness and use of these spaces.
Should be avoided:
It is important to avoid institutional look of interior.
Furniture and finishes
Consider:
Colours for communal spaces: Mutted, matt and harmonious schemes
Use of domestic, comfortable furnishings and free of toxins and gassing chemicals. Minimal details and continous and smooth surface transitions to minimise distractions. Arrangement of furniture that allow users to move them without obstructions. Provide Seatings against partitions and walls as resi-dents have a fear of being approached from behind.
Specify normal home furnishings rather than special needs furniture which can look institutional. Also rounded edges of furni-ture should be considered and resistant moistureproof fabrics. Using of plexiglas in-stead of glass.
Using colour contrast to highlight functional features.
