Future homes to adapt as we age

By Natasha Egan

The home for people aged over 50 in 2042 will be accessible and on one level, smaller yet more flexible, sustainable, built to encourage a sense of community with neighbours, and wired up to take on the role of the resident’s assistant.

This vision is outlined in the report, The Future of Over 50s: Home, from specialist insurance provider Apia, which provides premiums for the over 50s market.

The ideas come from a panel of experts who examined key social and economic trends to get an idea of what the future may look like three decades from now for Australians aged over 50s.

The head of aged design at architectural firm Rice Daubney, Guy Luscombe, was one of the experts on the panel.

“Homes will probably be smaller, easier, more flexible and smarter,” he said.

Getting to imagine what the life of a 50-year old would be like in the future was an exciting project because it offered an opportunity to throw some innovative ideas up without financial restrictions, Mr Luscombe said.

“What we found most sexy was the technology,” he said.

The high-tech features can be seen in this short three-dimensional video (youtube), also commissioned by Apia.

Mr Luscombe said the home of the future would be like an active partner in your life but not intrusive like ‘big brother’.

“We saw it as opt in or opt out. More like universal design but embedded with technology.”

Mr Luscombe said accessibility was about much more than access, it is also about the home being an assistant to living.

Smarthome features, such as a silent carer in the mirror, would be available to help with daily tasks by giving reminders and increasable light levels will be on hand to help people see better as they get older, he said.

People would live in single level homes but Mr Luscombe said that the building could still be multi-storey.

There would be no trip hazards, making way for items such as sunken rugs, and enough room to move around and get assistance or add assistive features if necessary.

Spaces will be flexible so they can be adapted for the purpose needed, whether that be a home office, a spare bedroom, or recreational room.

“There’s no reason that a house for a person at any age needs to change. It needs to be usable by a person as they get older.”

As everyone has an individual health profile, the needs in the home will be unique, he said.

Sustainability is also really important, he said. Features in the vision include whole materials, solar panels and water collection devices. 

It’s about doing more with less, all of which reduces the costs for older people, Mr Luscombe said.

While a community can’t be forced, Mr Luscombe said things can be done to encourage it and that will be a feature of future design.

“It won’t be about closing off a community, it will be about opening it up,” he said.

Examples include, an active community group within a building, which an older person is ideal to lead, he said, shared entertaining areas, vegetable patches, people living together and using each other’s facilities.

“There will be a mixture of ages, living and learning from each other,” he said.

However, Mr Luscombe doesn’t expect that the new style of home will be here tomorrow.

“I can’t see a revolution coming,” he said. “Looking at housing from 30 years ago and today, there isn’t a huge amount of difference. Look at technology though and there is a huge difference.”

In terms of buildings, things are going to be slow because building needs return on investment and people don’t destroy something unless they can make more money on it.

The future home for over 50s report is the first one in a series and other aspects of life for the older person, including work, transport and community will be released later.

For more details, see the pdf version of  The Future of Over 50s: Home and the accompanying short three-dimensional video.