This is a great article in Builder Magazine on societal living trends and how they can, and should, affect residential design.
Check out the ways Japan-based Sekisui House has led change in the age-in-place trend.
The BUILDER Chōwa Concept Home project that was unveiled last month just outside Las Vegas provides the U.S. home building industry with a model for how to design and construct modern homes that meet occupants’ needs and wants today, and are capable of “aging in place” as their needs change over the years.
I’ve been following this project, led by Japan’s largest home building company, Sekisui House, its U.S. subsidiary Woodside Homes, and BUILDER Online, for the last few months. My focus has largely been on how the Japanese philosophy of “chōwa”–“the spirit of partnership and life balance”–has informed the design, selection of building materials and unique construction processes, and integration of smart home technologies to promote environmental sustainability, support occupants’ health and wellness, and protect against the consequences of climate change.
Now, let’s look at how the convergence of these elements achieves Sekisui House’s approach to lifelong housing–a model it calls “Smart Universal Design”.
Sekisui House began its research into lifelong housing, or aging in place, in 1975. This research then became part of the company’s mission statement in its pursuit of building homes where people can live long, vibrant lives. The company has conducted (and continues to do so) a diverse range of lifestyle related research at its R&D facilities, to provide homes of comfort, safety and security to a wide range of families with diverse and varying lifestyles.
The BUILDER Chōwa Concept Home represents the culmination of more than 40 years of research and home building experience around the world that addresses the core design for common human need of comfort for all occupants–children, the elderly, and people with all kinds of abilities.