Designing the interior of the Sylvia Richardson Care Facility provided not only a learning curve, but offered huge amounts of fun, says interior design director Sue Bendell.

Ms Bendell, of Bendell Design, said they were awarded the contract for the Sylvia Richardson residential care facility in September, 2005.

“Our scope included the furniture layouts and selections, window treatments, signage, cabinetry and the colour selections and co-ordination of all the finishes,” she said. “We developed the concepts for the resident rooms as well as for the front lobby, café, corridors, nurses stations, hair salon, chapel, bathing rooms and dining rooms.

“We were also responsible for assisting in a total turnkey package including physio equipment, kitchen equipment, medical equipment, beds, bedpans etc.”

The interior design concept was done after extensive research on the residential requirements for seniors and Alzheimer sufferers.

“During the preliminary design phase we partnered with Tamara Dvorsky, of HOK, in Toronto, who is a leading expert in health care design,” Ms Bendell explained.

“We first worked together in the early 1980s on St. Michael’s Hospital, in Toronto.”

“With the designs, we have striven to create a home like environment for the elderly that supports independence, while emphasising dignity, vitality and personal choice.

“We felt it was important for the design to feel like a Bermudian home and to try to impart a flavour of what a home may have felt like when the residents were in their prime,” she said.

“This resulted in the selection of traditional dark furniture.

“As a person ages, it changes the way in which they see. An elderly person has impaired ability to adapt to change in light levels, is sensitive to glare, has reduced visual acuity, a reduced field of vision and depth perception, reduced contrast sensitivity, and restricted colour recognition.

“So every part of the environment should support good vision to alleviate the fear of falling and to encourage movement and sociability. “Every design and colour selection was made with this in mind.”

The facility consists of three wings of client rooms and a separate Harmony Wing for Alzheimer’s residents.

“To assist in way finding, each client wing has a main accent colour,” explained Ms Bendell.

“These three accents are gold, rose and clay. These warm colours are the most visible colours to older eyes. They also add warmth and stimulation encouraging motion and activity.

“We used these accents in a relatively high saturation to have a calming effect. These colours also complement skin tones. Two different patterned drapery fabrics were used alternatively in each of the rooms that coordinated with the three accent colours.

“Generally the fabrics for the bedspreads and the seating were solids of the same three colours so that mixing and matching could be done to create interest, while reducing the inventory and maintenance costs. “Due to the special needs of Alzheimer patients a different, more subdued colour scheme was used in their wing.”

To further assist with way finding, the doors to all the toilet facilities were painted the same colour throughout the facility. As incontinence is more prevalent in the later stages of Alzheimer’s additional way finding was introduced in the Alzheimer’s wing by cutting in a graphic image of a toilet in the sheet flooring.

In the special facility rooms the designers deviated from the basic palette of colours to create different environments to suit the different people and their needs.

“In the library we chose dark green, as it has been known to reduce stress and tension and provide a calm, non distracting environment,” she said.

“The chapel has dark blue drapery, as blue is the most conducive for contemplation. In the beauty salon we chose a combination of very vibrant reds and greens to stimulate.

“The café lounge is a combination of white wicker, dark blue for contrast and teal. Plants and accessories make it a comfortable place to have a coffee with visitors. Artwork depicting people at outdoor cafés and at the beach add to the atmosphere.”

Carpet was used to add a homelike atmosphere, warmth, acoustic value, reduce glare and provide a safer walking environment.

“A custom designed antimicrobial carpet in a dark periwinkle blue was selected to contrast with light coloured walls,” said Ms Bendell.

“This was used throughout except in the Alzheimer’s wing. The handrails were also done in the same carpet colour making them easy to see against the light walls.”

Maintenance was always considered in the selection of all the fabrics and finishes, said Ms Bendell who chose either vinyl or crypton fabrics for the upholstery seating.

She explained that these fabrics were the most suitable for high use health care.

As the residents vary in size, shape and ability they also provided a choice of chairs in each area including bariatric beds and chairs for very large individuals.

“Most of the furniture has locking castors for ease of relocation and safety,” Ms Bendell said.

“The furniture in the Alzheimer’s wing has soft edges for safety.”

Throughout the facility all of the doors not for client use are painted out to match the walls, so that they are less visible.

Contrast and the ability to see clearly were always considered.

“For instance, the edges on the dining room table have a dark band so that the residents can clearly see the edge of the table.

“Also the baseboard (skirting) throughout matches the light wall colour so that the edge of the floor and the wall can be clearly distinguished.”

Speciality rooms were designed to keep the seniors active, said the designer.

“A kitchen is provided for the residents or their families to cook in,” she said.

“It provides a home-like kitchen and dining room decorated in a casual country style. The colour scheme in this room was centred on yellow and is bright and cheerful with fun accessories and artwork.

“The solid wood dining room table is surrounded by Windsor backed chairs and a hutch in the corner provides a place for plants in a wicker basket.”

Throughout the entire facility one cannot miss all of the artwork.

Ms Bendell explained that they also chose all the artwork, the plants and the accessories.

“All of the artwork is by Bermudian artists, framed locally and laminated for safety and ease of maintenance.”

The design also had to assist in every way to maintain mobility levels.

“It is critical for senior people to take regular exercise, as this improves flexibility, strength, endurance, bone mass and cardiovascular fitness,” Ms Bendell said. “It can also reduce anxiety and fatigue and alleviate depression.

“Regular exercise can significantly relieve joint pain and stiffness and can improve or maintain joint mobility caused by arthritis.”

Above all else, she said: “This was a very interesting design job for Bendell Design.

“We were able to learn so much and look forward to continue doing work in this area.”