They don’t just stay in a room waiting to die

If you have relatives in care homes, you may know what’s typically on offer. A care home might be just a repurposed big old house, or a new-build as cost-efficient as a budget hotel. No matter how old you are now, there’s a point in caring about what’s going on. It’s an issue for society in general as the population ages. Architecture has a role to play, as the physical environment can improve or harm the wellbeing of residents. Done right, design can make the care of elderly people less stressful and more effective.

For architects, designing for older people and those living with age-related diseases gives them a chance to do something of social value. The Village Landais, in the town of Dax in south-west France, is a good example. It is an attempt to “give real life back” to people with Alzheimer’s. As one staff member puts it, “they don’t just stay in a room waiting to die.” It features an arcaded square with a restaurant, library and other facilities. Four groups of buildings are built around a pleasant green space, with a pond and trees in the middle.

The project, which opened in 2020, aims to give as much freedom to the villagers as possible. The five-hectare community has a fence around it for the safety of its vulnerable residents. Within its boundary, though, people can come and go more or less as they please. They can walk around the open spaces, visit their neighbours, go to the restaurant or to a show in the village auditorium, and attend to animals and plants in a mini-farm and a kitchen garden.

There are other details designed to reduce the effects of the disease. The paving is beige, as strong contrasts can make people with Alzheimer’s feel anxious. Light and dark are used to attract attention to where it should go. Pale door handles, for example, are placed against darker backgrounds.

There’s also a make-believe shop, where villagers can “buy” products without actually paying for them. A make-believe compartment of an old-fashioned railway carriage has a screen inside that shows countryside scrolling by to make patients think they really have been on a journey, which can calm the residents.

These attempts appear to work. In Dax, the villagers seem cheerful and relaxed. Independent research recently found that markers for such things as cognitive decline and depression were significantly better in the Dax village than in other care homes.