Elizabeth Karol

Older people's decisions regarding 'ageing in place': A Western Australian case study

Aim:  To investigate ‘ageing in place’ in terms of house, locality and support, related to the Western Australia members of National Seniors Australia.

Inclusive Design and the New Home Market: The West Australian Situation

Abstract This paper examines the design of typical new houses in Western Australia to determine if the designs are taking into account the needs of older adults. Older adults who move to a new suburban house are generally ‘pulled’ to move by the perceived benefits of the new home. A sample of new homes in the ‘New Homes’ weekly supplement of the West Australian Newspaper was reviewed and analysed to determine what emphasis had been given to designing houses that could be adapted to the needs of older adults. The findings indicate that there has been no change in the project home market between 2005 and 2007 in relation to considering the diversity in age and ability of prospective home occupants and that older people commissioning new homes do not appear to be demanding that the homes be designed on universal design principles.

Extending the use of existing CAD software to enable visualization of solar penetration in complex building forms

Currently available computer-aided design (CAD) software packages used by architects and designers are limited in their ability to provide visual images of solar penetration into complex building forms. However, in order to better design for thermal impact, it would be helpful for professionals and students to be able to visualize solar penetration at various times of the day and in various seasons. A comparative study of three CAD software packages used by designers was carried out to ascertain the barriers within the software in providing visual images of solar penetration. The study showed that typical CAD tools used by architects and designers were not well adapted to display solar penetration into complex building forms. However, this article shows that images of solar penetration can be produced in a timely manner using free-for-use software. This production of sun patches on arbitrary projection planes is an innovative process that delivers web-based output.

Building Design and the Lived Experience of People with Neurodegenerative Disorders in Western Australia

Abstract People with neurodegenerative disorders (NDD) who live in and want to remain in the community often have to modify their home or move to a new home to accommodate their changing needs. This paper examines the home environment as experienced by people with NDD, in terms of Lawtons theory of environmental gerontology, using data from a 2007 postal survey in Western Australia. The paper concludes that house design is clearly one of the factors involved in enabling people with NDD, and indeed frail people in general, to manage their physical difficulties and remain in their homes.