Peamount Healthcare

An empathetic approach to the design requirements of a dementia cohort resulted in this one hundred bed residential healthcare unit. It is arranged over two floors in two interlocking squares with private courtyards, all set within a parkland environment. The service is split equally between rehabilitation and elderly care residents, with a special emphasis on dementia care.

Architecture

The challenge for us was to understand and envision the difficulties, capabilities, perspective, and experience of its elderly future users.

The subsequent design approach informed both at the macro level, e.g. the patient arrival journey is short, simple, and never disengaged from an outside view, and at the micro level, where each bed location provides a view of landscaped outdoor space or estate’s parklands. Thus, the design seeks to positively support patient capabilities, autonomy and self-confidence, despite their diminished thinking or communication skills.