Quality aged and health care design seamlessly integrates safety, accessibility and hygiene with comfort and style for residents, patients, and staff.

Numerous studies have shown that patients and residents are directly impacted by the physical design and aesthetics of their environment. With that knowledge, designers want to ensure that such places do not feel institutional even though they need to be designed to meet higher care needs.

There are of course many considerations when it comes to the physical and cognitive needs of residents and patients particularly those who are disabled or suffering from dementia.

When looking more specifically at bathroom design in aged care settings, enabling safe and easy use is paramount. Key safety considerations include non-slip surfaces, strategically placed grab rails, raised toilet seats, effective infection control and nurse call style assisted living aids. For patients with dementia, the bathroom needs to be a place that minimises confusion and anxiety. This can be achieved through colour-coded fixtures and fittings, clear signage, and layouts that promote a sense of familiarity and routine.

A recent example of blending functionality and aesthetics can be seen in the bathrooms at Dural House Aged Care Home in Sydney’s leafy suburb of Dural. The contemporary, resort-style accommodation offers 145 beds that span high care, permanent and respite spaces. The rooms are equipped with individual ensuites and oversized windows with views of carefully maintained courtyards and gardens.

Keeping that residential feel

When designing Dural House, the interior needed to be sympathetic to its tranquil setting and in tune with the resident’s needs and preferences. The brief for the bathrooms was to provide an adequate level of comfort, support, and safety, alongside a residential feel that would generate a familiar and homely ambience. To achieve this all bathrooms were fitted out with a range of Caroma’s signature products.

The Elegance Bath Shower, Basin and Sink Mixers all have a user-friendly design with clear cold and hot water indicators for improved visibility and an easy-grip loop handle, making turning the tap on and off comfortable and straightforward.

Above: GWA Livewell Opal Nickel / Caroma

The basin and sink mixers were specified alongside Caroma’s Opal 900 Twin Shelf Wash Basin. With rounded contours and clean, integrated shelf space, the basins are defined by a simple and uncluttered aesthetic and offer plenty of easily accessible storage ideally suited for essential objects, like hairbrushes or hand creams.

The toilet units specified throughout the facility are underpinned by the same innate idea of comfort and support. Care 660 Easy Height Toilet and Care 610 Cleanflush Connector Suite offer an elevated pan that enables easy transfer on and off the seat. This considered design is perfect for users with limited mobility or a disability.

In addition to that, both models are equipped with Cleanflush. This rimless flushing system offers an advanced hygiene profile, well suited for hospitals and aged care homes where a superior level of hygiene and thorough cleaning are paramount. Combining an elegant and familiar aesthetic, high-quality finish and considered design, the specified range of products fits in with the high-end character of the facility while ensuring all the comfort and support the residents and staff may require.

Creating a dementia-friendly environment

Another example of bathroom design that achieves best-practice care for elderly residents in a home-like environment can be seen in a collaboration between CASF Australia and Silver Thomas Hanley at Wantirna Aged Care Facility in Victoria. The 120-bed development has been thoughtfully designed to enhance resident privacy, dignity, and independence while considering care needs in a dementia-friendly environment.

Physical and mental well-being are optimised through access to natural light, fresh air, and stunning views of the Dandenong Ranges. When it came to designing the ensuite bathrooms, Corian’s integrated vanity tops and basins were specified.

The basins feature several safety and accessibility elements, including handy rails for added support, anti-ligature sink shrouds for increased safety, and curved edges to minimise injury risk. The use of high contrast colours, such as Silver Grey basins with Glacier White vanity tops and sink shrouds helps visually impaired residents navigate the bathroom independently and safely.

Compliance with AS1428.1 – 2009 standards ensures that the wall basins are accessible and promote independence. Key features include adequate clearance beneath the basins for wheelchair users, the absence of obstructions such as cabinets, and height-adjusted installations to accommodate both seated (wheelchair users) and standing residents. These considerations ensure that residents can comfortably and safely use the bathroom facilities, enhancing their overall quality of life.

The considered integration of these design features highlights the facility’s commitment to providing a safe, accessible, and supportive environment for all residents, particularly those with mobility challenges and cognitive impairments.

Ambulant and wheelchair accessible design

A further example of aged care bathroom design that’s as stylish as it is supportive is at LDK Greenway Views in Canberra. This aged care home took out first place for The Urban Developer Awards Development of the year 2020 - Retirement, Aged Care and Senior Living.

Nero’s Brushed Gold Grab Rails, designed through collaboration with Australian Designer Avail add a stylish touch to the facility’s ambulant toilets and wheelchair accessible bathrooms.

They have also installed Avail’s Calibre Ergo 600mm towel/grab rails in each of their assisted living units to support residents. This is because the first thing people generally reach for when slipping in the bathroom is the towel rail, so providing weight-bearing ergonomic towel rails will prevent injuries and damage to the bathroom.

“People are very proud no matter what their age or circumstance and no one wants their home to look like a therapy centre,” Aliro Product Designer, Ashley Passlow says.

This philosophy also underpins ABI Interiors’ Aliro Collection designed with inclusivity at the forefront. The range offers a stylish selection of accessible, ambulant, and assisted living products that combine beautiful design and delicate detailing with durability, functionality, and safety assurance.

Above: ABI Interiors’ Aliro Collection

“For example, for our Accessible Basin, we envisioned a soft and organic design that would blend seamlessly with the ABI range without looking ‘accessible’,” Passlow says.

The Accessible Wall-Mounted Basin incorporates both left and right orientations with an easy-to-clean solid surface construction and a gloss finish for easier maintenance.

The Aliro Accessible Basin Mixer is designed to pair perfectly with the accessible basin. It has a slim-framed spout and an easily operated lever handle.

“Another aesthetic consideration was ensuring Aliro was available in four of our signature finishes: brushed brass, brushed copper, brushed gunmetal, and stainless steel. This ensured there was no exclusivity in colours and that accessible bathrooms could blend in seamlessly with other products throughout the home,” Passlow says.

Combining reliable support with anti-corrosive properties, the Aliro Accessible Shower Grab Rail Set, Accessible 140 Continuous Grab Rails, and Ambulant 140 Grab Rails have versatile, modular configurations that ensure flexibility for customised orientations.

Lastly, the Aliro Accessible Back-to-Wall Toilet Suite has a glazed porcelain construction and pairs perfectly with the Aliro Accessible Backrest, which has an ethylene vinyl acetate (EVA) pillow.

“We designed our products to be modular, allowing for easy assembly and disassembly, to ensure they are both user-friendly and visually appealing,” Passlow adds.

“We conferred with a Standards Consultant to ensure everything would comply. However, while addressing specific ambulant and accessible bathroom Standards was our most important concern for the Aliro Collection, we didn’t want style sacrificed for functionality,” he notes.

When designing aged care bathrooms for residents who have dementia Galvin Engineering has a range of specialised products to help residents maintain their independence. Dementia sufferers need to be provided with guidance in the form of clear structures and an easy to perceive environment. This is exactly what Galvin Engineering’s HEWI Dementia Range provides. Coloured contrasts can be used to structure a room and to facilitate the perception of the environment for better orientation for someone with dementia.

Above: Galvin Engineering’s HEWI Dementia Range

Deliberately used coloured contrasts facilitate orientation and enable intuitive use. For example, if only the functional elements are coloured, they are highlighted, and their function is clearly illustrated. If the functional elements are also in a colour contrasting with the surroundings, they also become easy to perceive for people with impaired vision.

Qualitative studies show that the colour red is most easily perceived by patients with dementia and as the disease progresses, it is the colour perceived for the longest time.

Red is also the most easily registered colour for people with age-related impaired vision or inoperable eye diseases.

Adding ergonomic design features

Ergonomic design features that assist elderly people and those with dementia are a cornerstone of Pressalit’s design philosophy. Their portfolio of products gives designers many options that allow them to create ensuite bathrooms which can be compact, but don’t lose any of the specific requirements needed for user and carer alike, such as circulation space.

Pressalit’s TMA 3 “free standing toilet with support arms” has proven over many years, to be a standard inclusion within many modern aged care facilities around Australia.

The ritual of using the toilet can be a challenge for those living in aged care facilities specifically when lowering and raising from a standing or seated position. With slip resistant ergonomic hand supports that are tactile to the touch, twinned with a flat and broad area to apply pressure, the TMA3 is a practical solution.

The overall aim of the product is to assist people with their independence and dignity, whilst acknowledging that the involvement of a carer can also be required.

The TMA3 is an increased height free-standing toilet complete with integral folding

support arms and an ergonomic toilet seat. Options for the TMA3 include the ability to have different coloured toilet seats with or without lids, plus support arms complete a nurse call feature if required.

The TMA3 can be installed into a corner at a 45-degree angle, giving space for carers and the support arms raise and lower independently of one another (load rated to 150kg). Dual toilet roll holder allows paper placement either on the left or the right and the elevated toilet seat platform of 480mm from FFL improves accessibility. The raised flush button helps when users have limited hand and finger dexterity.

Ultimately when designing bathrooms for aged care facilities, residents don’t want their space to be a constant reminder of their ill health mobility issues.

To make residents feel at home designers are trying to create bathrooms that feel more relaxed, familiar, and aesthetically pleasing whilst also meeting all safety and mobility standards and considerations.

Main image: GWA LiveWell Opal / Caroma

SUPPLIERS

Caroma

Corian

Nero Tapware

Galvin Engineering

ABI Interiors

Pressalit

Nathalie Craig

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