Aging in Place

Many of our clients hire us to design their retirement home. Accommodating the possibility of being less mobile is relatively easy and doesn’t deter from the aesthetics of the house. There are three major areas of consideration for aging in place; life-safety, fall prevention, and convenience.

The number one life safety issue is providing an accessible exit from each floor. In the Lowcountry, many houses are raised off the ground to be out of the flood plain. Many architects create an accessible entry by either installing a residential elevator or stacking elevator sized closets for a future elevator. In houses less than five feet off the ground, we often include a ramp to the back or side door. A custom designed ramp will fit in with the overall architecture of the house.

Accessible doors are 36 inches wide and will preferably have flush thresholds but a maximum threshold of ½ inch exterior and ¼ inch interior. Hallways should be at least 42 inches wide. Every room should have an open space of 5 feet by 5 feet for wheelchair maneuverability.

The building code requires that bedrooms have an egress window in case of fires. A house designed for aging in place will have three foot wide exterior doors from the bedrooms opening onto an area of refuge, which might be directly on grade or a balcony large enough for a wheelchair.

Floor material, adequate lighting, and grab bars are the keys to help prevent falls. Floors should be smooth, firm, and slip resistant. Carpet should be low pile (less than ½ inch) with a firm pad. There should be plenty of natural light as well as both overall room lighting and task lighting. Particular care should be given to lighting stairwells, showers, entry doors, and exterior walkways. Stairwells should have switches at both the top and bottom and hallways at both ends.

Stairwells should have handrails on both sides of the stairs. In bathrooms, install or provide blocking for future installation of grab bars in the shower, bathtub, and around the toilet. Likewise, you might want to install blocking in the hallways for future grab bars.

For greater convenience you might consider one floor living, low maintenance materials, and a 5-foot accessible aisle in the carport or garage for wheelchair access. Lever door handles and faucets are easier for arthritic hands to open. Finally, the construction of a separate guest house or two master suites can accommodate an aging relative or a live in nurse.

Pecha Kucha

This is my presentation from Pecha Kucha last night. The format is 20 slides and 20 seconds on each slide. The Pantheon, Rome, Itlay Circa 126 AD

These are images of buildings and spaces that have inspired, delighted and amazed me. The Pantheon is over 2000 years old and still holds the record for the largest unreinforced concrete dome. The oculus provides natural light and ventilation. Those Romans were pretty smart.

Chapel of St. Ignatius, Steven Holl, Seattle University, 1997

Holl describes his building as “a stone box, containing seven bottles of light.” The desired ethereal effect is awe inspiring. Halos of soft light are punctuated by other worldly intense colors. The mesmerizing light creates a calm meditative atmosphere.

Museum of Modern Art Addition, Takahashi Yoshio, New York City, 2006

The great hall creates a performance piece among the gallery visitors who wave to each other through the filtered shims between the floors. The transparencies and the layering of light provide the perfect stage. It changes the museum visit from a passive to an active experience

Prada Soho Store, Rem Koolhaas, New York City, 2001

When both of your parents are architects; family vacations always revolve around buildings that must be seen. When I told my youngest daughter, Jessica, about this presentation, she asked “Are you going to include the Prada Store”. Jess…..this one is for you.

Villa Rotunda, Andrea Palladio, Vicenza, Italy, begun 1566

Palladian perfection. It is difficult to choose a favorite villa by Palladio because they all meet Vitruvius’s condition for a great building ..firmness, commodity and delight. I am envious of a client who spent the evening dining and dancing here during a Venice film festival.

Chicago Cloud Gate, Anish Kapoor, Chicago, 2006

Stainless steel polished so smoothly you want to rub you face against the bean but you can’t because it acts as a huge magnet drawing in the populace. All inhibitions are lost as people prance and preen in the fun house mirror.

Thorncrown Chapel, Fay Jones, Eureka Springs, Arkansas, 1980

The client commissioned ‘a little chapel to provide wayfarers a place for relaxation.” With glass, wood, and stone, Jones made a sacred structure that celebrates nature and man’s connection to it. The simple plan and form create a harmoniously unified masterpiece.

BCE Place Galleria, Santiago Calatrava, Toronto, Canada, 1992

I heard Calatrava speak on his design process. Most of his projects start with sketches of the human body which inspire his structural systems. He sketches, sculpts and paints to further explore the forms. This is the only finished building I’ve seen so I expect new favorites in my future.

Brion Vega Cemetery, Carlo Scarpa, San Vito d'Altivole, Italy, 1972

Stone drum steps each with a different tone mark your progression through the garden towards the tombs. The sound is hauntingly beautiful. We created a redneck version at our house; sheet metal on a steel frame. It sounds like someone running up a slide when you approach our door. Not quite the same!

National Gallery of Canada, Moshe Safdie, Ottawa, Canada, 1988

There is an area on the second floor with a glass floor looking down on a fountain below. From the first floor if feels like you are under the sea looking up at people treading water. The Alexander Calder film on his circus puppet show was even better than the building

Casa Mila, Antonio Gaudi, Barcelona, Spain, 1905-10

Life should be fun..often we take ourselves too seriously; Gaudi makes us stop and recognize the absurd, the humorous, and the fun in our day to day lives by his architecture. Knowing that these sentinels were protecting my apartment building would make me smile all day long.

High Museum of Art, Addition, Renzo Piano, Atlanta, Georgia, 2005

Zenithal light from 1000 north facing circular skylights flood the galleries with soft natural light allowing you to focus on the exhibits. The refined detailing highlights Piano’s sensitive balance between art and function. Three new buildings form a courtyard with the existing Meier building

High Museum of Art, Richard Meier, Atlanta, Georgia, 1983

Meier said “I think white is the most wonderful color of all, because within it one can find every color of the rainbow.” A 10 year old asked me “did they mean for it to be this white?” I rode an elevator with Meier and told him the story. He didn’t think it was funny.

Delano Hotel, Philippe Stark, South Beach Miami, Florida, 1995

A small blue door in a sculpted hedge beckons you to enter the unknown. Immediately you are falling though gossamer curtains down the rabbit hole and land in a modern day decadent wonderland. Plan on arriving at night for the most magical experience.

Disney Concert Hall, Frank Gehry, Los Angeles, California, 2003

Hearing the Los Angeles Symphony in this space was the most sensuous experience that I have had. As the orchestra played the ceiling slowly changed colors. Superlatives crowd my brain remembering the visual and audile impact.

Art institute of Chicago, Shepley, Ruten and Coolidge, Chicago, 1893

The courtyard café is an oasis from the hustle and bustle of the surrounding city. It provides a quiet respite for rejuvenating the soul after soaking in the great art in the institute’s galleries. The fountain creates the desired separation in an intimate space.

Church of San Lorenzo, Filippo Brunelleschi, Florence, Italy, 1421-1440

April 1980, we arrive in Florence after 2 months in Northern Europe. We climbed to the top in the narrow space between the inner and outer domes and sat outside the cupola for hours basking in the sun.

Old Sheldon Church (Prince William Parish) Beaufort County, South Carolina, 1757

Majestic ruins of the first temple form building in America. Woodmason, wrote in 1765, “Prince William’s Church is the second best Church in the Province and by many esteem’d a more beautiful building than St. Philips. It is far more elegant than St. Michaels

Dogtrot, North Alabama, 1895

My great grandmother, Essie Curl Shackleford and her sister Ezzie Pearl standing in front of the family home in North Alabama. The open center hall creates a Bernoulli effect of increased winds through the hall. Southern vernacular architecture is based on sustainable design principles and they still apply.

Flowers by Frederick + Frederick

Flower arrangements by Michael Frederick, AIA will be for sale this Saturday at the Port Royal, SC Farmer's Market. 8:30 am until 12:30 pm. Prices start at $9 with a vase provided. Feel free to bring your own vase for a special arrangement.

Greening your Bathroom

The terms “Green” and ‘Sustainable” are the hot new buzz words but when you consider that buildings are responsible for almost half (48%) of all greenhouse gas emissions annually it is imperative that we make our houses more environmentally responsible. Bathroom renovations create ample opportunities for saving water and energy. Begin your planning process by inventorying the existing space and determine your requirements. The survey should be broken into four categories; space allocation; water usage, ventilation and electrical usage, and materials and finishes.

Space Allocation: Best practices suggest that you design the space for your needs and not add additional square footage for resale value. If you only shower and never take a bath, do not add the extra square footage for a large soaking tub. A dedicated toilet closet will allow multiple people to use the bathroom at the same time and may reduce the number of bathrooms needed. Provide generous storage space; rooms can be smaller when there is ample storage space. Consider allowing enough space for aging in place; are the doors wide enough for a wheel chair or walker? Provide blocking in the shower walls for future grab bars.

Water Usage: There are huge water saving opportunities for bathrooms. An inexpensive solution is to replace existing shower heads with low water use showerhead. Old showerheads use up to five gallons per minute (gpm). Current federal law requires a maximum flow rate for of 2.5 gpm. One ultra low flow brands are Oxygenics showerhead 1.75 gpm for $30.00.

Toilets manufactured prior to 1992, use between 3.5 gallons per flush (gpf) and 7 gpf. Federal Law now mandates no more that 1.6 gpf for all new toilets. Many manufacturers are making super low flush toilets and dual flush toilets. The dual flush toilet typically uses 1.1 gpf for liquid waste and 1.6 gpf for solid waste. Available products include: American Standard FloWise™ 1.28 gpf for $359; Kohler Wellworth Pressure Lite dual flush 1.1/1.6 gpf for $451; Mansfield Eco-Quantum dual flush 1.1/1.6 gpf for $493; and Toto Aquia™ dual flush 0.8/1.6 gpf for $435. Another option to consider is a composting toilet that uses no water; they cost about $2,000.

Heating water typically uses between 14 and 25% of a household’s energy. Three options in water heating are Solar, conventional storage tanks, and tankless (on-demand) heaters. Solar Water Heaters are the most efficient but also have the highest initial costs ($4,500 to $9,000). Solar Water heaters are either a passive or active system. The passive systems are less expensive, more reliable, and have a longer life. The passive systems are not as efficient as active systems.

When selecting a conventional water heater look at the EnergyGuide label and the Energy Factor which rates the overall efficiency of the unit, the higher the number the better. The standby heat loss of traditional water heaters can be lessened with heavily insulated tanks. The thermal resistance (R-Value) of the tank should be between at minimum R-12 and preferably R-25.

Tankless (on demand) water heaters are gaining popularity in the United States because they save between 15 and 40% of water heating energy costs. The cost of the unit typically is about twice the cost of a conventional tank water heater. They are available in both gas and electric models. Popular brands include Rinnai and Bosch.

Mechanical Systems – Ventilation and Electrical – In bathroom remodels, the changes to the HVAC is limited unless you are replacing the entire system. At the very least you need exhaust fans vented to the exterior. Best practices include installing the fans on a timer to shut off thirty minutes after use.

The bathroom lighting needs to include general overall lighting, task lighting at the lavatories and a ceiling light in the shower. Consider separate switches for the three types of lights to minimize energy requirements. Look for EnergyStar qualified light fixtures, they typically use 75% less energy, produce 75% less heat and last up to 10 times longer than a standard fixture.


Materials and Finishes – The materials mantra is reused first, recycled second, and purchase rapidly renewable resources third. In a renovation project, deconstruct instead of demolish the existing space. Reuse all the existing material that you can. Donate or recycle any material that is not used to keep it out of the waste stream. Look for salvaged building materials to use in the project instead of purchasing new products. Recycled products reduce the burden on our landfills and conserve our resources. Locally manufactured products are preferable because of the reduced energy requirements for transportation.

Bathroom finishes should be durable and water resistant. Ceramic tile with recycled content is the best option for walls and floors. Stone is a very durable option but because it is not local to the Lowcountry the shipping costs make it a less environmentally friendly selection. Natural Linoleum is made from linseed, oil, jute, and wood dust and is the preferred alternative to vinyl flooring. Care should be taken in selecting adhesives that contain low VOC’s (Volatile Organic Compounds).

In our hot humid climate, wall paper, especially vinyl wall paper, should not be used. The wall paper acts a vapor barrier; moisture is trapped behind the paper and provides an ideal condition for mold. Carpet is another bad material for bathrooms because it also traps moisture.

Indoor air quality is affected by off-gasses from cabinets and paints. Cabinets should be constructed from materials that contain no added urea-formaldehyde resins and paints should be low VOC. Solid wood is a healthy alternative and should preferably be certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC).

Resources – Some helpful websites are www.buildinggreen.com www.greenhomeguide.org www.goodtobegreen.com www.greenbuildingpage.com www.energystar.gov www1.eere.energy.gov/buildings/