Alan Lewis

Does the design of extra-care housing meet the needs of the residents? A focus group study

ABSTRACT The study objective was to explore the views of residents and relatives concerning the physical design of extra-care housing. Five focus groups were conducted with residents in four extra-care schemes in England. One focus group was carried out with relatives of residents from a fifth scheme. Schemes were purposively sampled to represent size, type, and resident tenure. Data were analysed thematically using NVivo 8. Two over-arching themes emerged from the data: how the building supports the lifestyle and how the building design affects usability. Provision of activities and access to amenities were more restrictive for residents with disabilities. Independent living was compromised by building elements that did not take account of reduced physical ability. Other barriers to independence included poor kitchen design and problems doing laundry. Movement around the schemes was difficult and standards of space and storage provision were inadequate. The buildings were too hot, too brightly lit and poorly ventilated. Accessible external areas enabled residents to connect with the outside world. The study concluded that, while the design of extra-care housing meets the needs of residents who are relatively fit and healthy, those with physical frailties and/or cognitive impairment can find the building restrictive resulting in marginalisation. Design across the dependency spectrum is key in meeting the needs of residents. Inclusive, flexible design is required to benefit residents who are ageing in situ and have varying care needs.

Extra-care housing for people with sight loss: Lighting and design

The study investigated whether United Kingdom-based extra-care housing, which provides older people with individual dwellings, communal facilities and care support, complies with current guidance on design for people with visual impairment and satisfies the needs of residents with sight loss. A total of 41 apartments/bungalows in 11 schemes were surveyed and interviews conducted with the occupants. Participants’ comments suggest the current specialist guidance on design for people with sight loss is sound, although there is scope for additional guidance on aspect and daylight, which were highly valued. Little of this specialist guidance is included in mainstream design guidance, which might explain some deficiencies in extra-care housing, including low lounge and bedroom illuminances, few dimmer switches, and limited use of colour to enhance the legibility of spaces.

Email Forum Usage as an Identity Maintenance Strategy for Educators Working with Pupils with Special Educational Needs

The moves towards the inclusion of pupils with special educational needs (SEN) into mainstream settings places particular responsibilities on SEN educators in these schools, who are charged with both meeting such pupils’ individual needs and promoting more inclusive contexts. The resultant tensions may be reflected in how SEN educators see their professional identities. We studied the determinants of SEN educators’ usage of a professional email forum, one unrestricted support and information mechanism for SEN coordinators. Drawing on social psychological identity theory we predicted the usage of a professional email forum by SEN educators. We hypothesised that particular characteristics of SEN educators, relating to how they regard their professional identity, would predict the usage of the forum. An email forum survey comprising Likert‐style questions to assess identification, prototypicality, and forum usage was completed by 130 SEN educators. We found use of the forum was highest when users felt they were not central members of their professional group, but at the same time this group was important to their identities. We discuss these findings in relation to the policy and practice of educational inclusion.

Planning through conflict: competing approaches in the preparation of Sheffield's post-war reconstruction plan

This article describes the breakdown in relations between local-authority Technical Officers working on Sheffields reconstruction scheme in 1943. As a consequence of the dispute, an approach that prioritized spatial experience was dropped in favour of an engineering-based approach, in which spatial qualities were disregarded. Factors that led to this outcome include Government sanctioned design guidance on traffic engineering and zoning, and the type of education planners received. The dispute is indicative of wider trends in urban planning in Britain during this period.

Infrastructure and the rebuilt post-war city: Birmingham School of the Built Environment, Birmingham City University, UK, 25 March 2013

The prospect of sitting through a conference dedicated to the subject of infrastructure might not normally set the heart racing. The word infrastructure conjures up images of conduits, cabling, plumbing and sewerage. However, as one of the organizers Peter Larkham (Birmingham City University) pointed out in his introduction to this one-day conference, infrastructure is integral to urban form. Also, as was demonstrated in the subsequent presentations, infrastructure can shape patterns of everyday life, and even unrealized infrastructure projects can have an impact on the design of individual buildings. Infrastructure and the Rebuilt Post-war City was convened by the Birmingham School of the Built Environment and held at Millennium Point, Birmingham City University, on 25 March 2013. The aim of the conference was to address an aspect of post-war physical reconstruction which has received little attention to date: the new infrastructure, made necessary by bomb damage, or considered necessary to reposition towns in the post-war economy. The event also marked the publication of The Blitz and its Legacy (Asghate, 2013, edited by Mark Clapson and Peter Larkham), developed from a conference held at the University of Westminster in September 2010. Following a call for abstracts, 10 people were scheduled to speak. Peter Larkham started the conference with a presentation that introduced the conference’s theme. He described how rising vehicle numbers led planners to propose features commonly associated with British post-war reconstruction, such as roundabouts, ring roads, and buildings with chamfered corners intended to accommodate the large radii-bends required for motor traffic. Richard Brook (Manchester Metropolitan University) explored the history of attempts to build a ring road around Manchester’s city centre, from Charles Reilly’s first suggestion of the idea in 1928, to the planning schemes put forward by the City Surveyor’s Department from 1932 onwards, to the completion of the inner ring road in 2004. Manchester’s road proposals were revised repeatedly, but the traces of un-built road schemes can still be detected in the city’s fabric, such as in the positioning of the Granada Television building, designed by Ralph Tubbs and built 1954–1966; seemingly intended to face onto a stretch of the inner ring road, the Planning Perspectives, 2013 Vol. 28, No. 4, 640–642, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/02665433.2013.828444

Planning through conflict: the genesis of Sheffield's post‐war reconstruction plan

This paper charts recent research findings on the preparation of the 1945 Plan for Sheffields City Centre, and argues that the story of the plans genesis encapsulates trends within British planning during this period.