Research:

The role of contrast in walls and floors

Some sub-types of Alzheimer’s cause perception and sight loss issues, causing people to misjudge distances, bump into things and become disorientated. A way to overcome perception issues is by creating clear colour contrast between floors and walls.

Clear colour contrasts between floors and walls was a recurring theme within research. This contrast is, more specifically, a ‘tonal’ contrast, which is measured by the Light Reflectance Value (LVR) of a surface.

LVR is how much visible and usable light is reflected from a surface. It is strongly recommended that there is a tonal contrast of more than 30 points for those with perception issues to see surfaces clearly. To test whether the contrast in tone is enough, turning material arrangements to greyscale gives a good indication of whether the contrast is sufficient.

Design

Material choices

Research informed what sort of colours the building needed in order to create a safe, visible environment. The tonal tests revealed that orange, white and yellow are the most visible colours with a selected brown, wood floor.

Another key theme within research, is avoiding heavily patterned carpets and dark corners. Those with perception issues can perceive this darkness as a change in level and cause them to fall.

A simple, yet effective colour palette has been carefully selected through research and tests.

Visitor safety is paramount, so making sure all surfaces are fully visible was important.

The design journey began with research surrounding the theme, in order to develop the brief. Once the brief was decided, from around November, basic spatial planning began, deciding on zones and a schedule of accommodation.

From December, designs started to form, experimenting with different layouts, including the circular motif that appeared within research. Tests within the existing building model also took place to see how this would work within the volume of space.

From January onwards, there was a lot of iteration of layouts. A lot of the development of the space occurred on the first floor, as this was the main space of the project. Getting this right took a lot of drawings.

Design

Circular spatial layouts

Some literature suggests that a circular spatial layout within a building can help those suffering with memory loss find their way around. Research also states that dead-end corridors and restricted user access can be incredibly frustrating for those with the disease. So, a circular spatial layout could be a good solution.

I tested this idea within the chosen site, but this became difficult within the context of an existing building which is very square. What I discovered when researching this topic more, was that since there are many varying symptoms of Alzheimer’s, creating a circular layout may be beneficial to some, but not others.

The case studies I found that adopted this layout worked successfully, but were on their own plot of land, meaning space and working with an existing building was not an issue. It was an interesting design initiative, however, it was not beneficial in the context of this building.