Multiple polls show that 93% of those over 55 will do anything to stay in their own homes rather than move to a typical retirement facility. Two of the most common fears are loneliness and decision-making autonomy, which cause many people to lose their sense of purpose in life.
What if you could bring a new typology to senior living that removes the negative stereotypes associated with typical retirement homes? A typology that creates an uplifting environment, where a shared community and inspiring architecture enrich the residents’ physical and cognitive abilities. That’s what we’ve come up with the concept of “Treehouse”.
Treehouse – a New Paradign in Senior Living to Enhance Well-Being
Element5 in conjunction with Farrow Partners have developed a new approach to senior living called “Treehouse”. Treehouse is a concept that takes full advantage of mass timber’s sustainable and biophilic properties and then intertwines those benefits with design principles grounded in neuroscience. It rethinks senior-living environments as places for engagement and social connectivity through incremental interventions and adaptations to space.
Cross-laminated timber’s (CLT) prefab modularity is well-suited for shaping mid-rise dwellings, specifically due to its lower overall cost to construction, speed of construction, and higher ROI. Treehouse’s design is also customizable to respond to particular site conditions. Additionally, due to its reduced construction noise and debris, mass timber’s on-site assembly is far less disruptive to a neighbourhood than steel and concrete.
