The elderly-centred design: a new target of sustainability for the renovation of existing residential buildings

The ageing population is an increasing demographic phenomenon with significant social, economic and environmental impacts; nevertheless, it is undervalued in policies and actions for sustainable development of a region. Considering that, on the one hand, the built environment and in particular residential buildings can contribute to an active ageing of people and improve quality of life of the elderly, and on the other hand that the retrofit of existing buildings is now recognised as essential for sustainability, renovating the existing residential building stocks with actions aimed at meeting the needs of the elderly becomes a means for sustainable development. Moreover, guaranteeing the use of domestic space safely and comfortably for the elderly creates an advantage to anybody, overcoming the more conventional approach to design for disability in favour of universal design. The author then considers that a design activity addressed to the elderly is nowadays a new, indispensable, sustainability goal in the construction field particularly when retrofitting existing residential buildings. This paper is divided in three main parts. Firstly, the reasons for the importance of addressing the renovation design of residential buildings to meet the needs of the ageing population are explained. Secondly, a first survey is reported on the requirements most frequently expressed by the elderly during the use of their dwelling/building and the results of this survey are analysed so to be preparatory to recognising an elderly-centred approach to renovation design of existing residential buildings. Thirdly, the methodology used is discussed and future developments of the work are prospected. This paper presents the first phase of a recently started research, with the aim of building a basis for comparison and discussion with other scholars in the field.