CARACTERÍSTICAS

ASPECTS AND FACTORS OF THE OUTDOOR ENVIRONMENT THAT HELP TO CREATE COMFORT

The Comfort of Familiarity

For older people, a comfortable street is also generally a familiar one with build-ings and features in designs they recognise and understand (see Chapter 4).

Welcoming Open Spaces

Open spaces should be small enough so that they are not daunting for older people to enter and well defined with the use of low fencing, walls or hedges.

Active areas, such as ponds, playgrounds and cafes, help to make older people with dementia feel welcome and that it is all right for them to be there. They are also more likely to attract other users so that the open space does not feel isolated or threatening. However, they should also have places away from, but not out of sight of, busy areas where people can sit and enjoy some tran-quillity away from crowds and traffic. Seating and lighting in open spaces are essential. Shelter and public toilets should at least be within walking distance of the open space.

Quiet Streets

The hierarchy of streets recommended earlier to promote familiarity and legibility also gives people the choice of walking along quiet side roads as alternative routes away from the crowds and traffic generally found on larger, main streets. Making some streets pedestrianised with seating and shelter provides another opportunity for people to escape the traffic. Acoustic bar-riers and buffers, such as fencing, trees and shrubs, help to shield pedestrians from traffic and to reduce street and background noises.

Undaunting Streets

Comfortable streets are the same as legible streets (see Chapter 5). They are relatively short and gently winding so that they do not give the impression of being tedious and interminable. They are also connected to each other so that people can take direct routes to their destinations.

Bus Stops

Wherever possible, bus stops should have some form of shelter, preferably enclosed with transparent sides or large clear windows. Shelters should have wide, flat seats made of non-slippery materials that do not conduct heat or cold.

Figure 8.3 The automated ‘Superloo’ is unfamiliar and a little daunting to many older people who will seek out more conventional types of public toilet.

Telephone Boxes

As we mentioned earlier, many of the participants without dementia appreci-ate the accessibility of modern telephone boxes but still generally regard them as unattractive. Incorporating the familiarity and distinctiveness of the

Figure 8.4 A conventional type of public toilet. (Photograph by SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre.)

traditional red K6 telephone box with the easier to use features, such as level thresholds and lighter doors, of the modern boxes would provide comfort-able enclosed telephone boxes for everyone to use that people with dementia would also recognise and continue to be able to use as wayfinding cues.

Public Seating

Many local authorities seem more interested in preventing vandalism than providing seating that is attractive, comfortable and easy to use. Seats that are easy and comfortable for older people to use are sturdy with continuous back rests, protruding arm rests and non-protruding legs. They are made of

Figure 8.5 Open spaces should have quiet, shaded seating areas.

wood or other soft materials that do not conduct heat or cold. We mentioned that a number of participants complained that some public seating is too low.

According to Oxley (2002), guidance on seating heights varies from 420 mm to 580 mm. Carstens (1985) notes that 90 per cent of people over the age of 75 years are less than 164 cm in height and recommends that seating should

Figure 8.6 Older people prefer enclosed bus shelters with seating and transpar-ent sides or large windows. (Photograph by SURFACE Inclusive Design Research Centre.)

be no more than 440 mm high. Oxley (2002), however, also makes the useful observation that seats of different heights are used by some providers to cater for both short and tall people. We would, therefore, recommend providing seats at both 420 mm to 440 mm and 470 mm to 480 mm heights.

Seating should be every 100 m to 125 m. Where possible, for example in open spaces, positioning some seating at right-angles to each other allows people with poor hearing or eyesight to see and chat to their companions.

Public Toilets

The most comfortable public conveniences for older people are ground level conventional toilets situated in view of passers-by and neighbouring buildings.

DESIGN FEATURES AND CHARACTERISTICS OF COMFORTABLE STREETS FOR LIFE

Comfortable Streets for Life are likely to have:

■ A calm, welcoming feel

■ Familiar buildings and features in designs older people recognise

■ Small, quiet well-defined open spaces, free from motorised traffic and with seating, lighting, toilets and shelter

■ Quiet side roads as alternative routes away from crowds and traffic

■ Some pedestrianised areas to offer protection from traffic

■ Acoustic barriers, such as planting and fencing, to reduce background noise

■ Relatively short, gently winding and well-connected streets

■ Enclosed bus shelters with seating and transparent walls or large clear windows

■ Enclosed telephone boxes

■ Sturdy public seating every 100 m to 125 m with arm and back rests and in materials that do not conduct heat or cold

■ Ground level conventional public toilets in view of buildings and pedestrians.

C H A P T E R 9

Safety

WHY SAFETY IS AN ESSENTIAL CHARACTERISTIC OF