| Category | Sports, Community & Recreation |
|---|---|
| Year | 2016 |
| Size | 360sqm |
Projects
GoodLife! Makan
A Vibrant and Inclusive Setting
This cheerfully designed 360sqm recreational centre is situated at the void deck of a HDB block in Marine Parade, with a communal kitchen as its nucleus. The place aims largely at reconnecting stay-alone elderly to the wider community to facilitate multi-generational exchanges.
With communal experiences - mainly through cooking and dining - at the core of the facility space, senior residents will have opportunities to interact and socialise through Singapore’s rich food culture in a social setting that is all at once inclusive and yet cost-efficient to create and maintain.
Due consideration was paid in the design planning to meet the emotional, psychological and social needs of the growing aged community in Singapore.
The design also capitalised on the porous setting and spatial quality of the HDB void deck to create an open and fenceless compound. This experimental design shifts away from conventional gated or glazed-up elderly activity centre models to create an inviting communal space.
Details
GoodLife! Makan is an innovative social initiative that supports ageing-in-place, built around meaningful pastimes that address the physical and mental wellness of seniors.
With cooking and dining together as the essence of the experience, this activity space provides opportunities for senior residents to interact and socialise through Singapore’s rich and easily understood food culture while developing roles and responsibilities from the rituals of food preparation and consumption.
Integrated furniture and shelving serve as wider textural indicators to reinforce the colour zoning and subtle differentiation of the activity areas.
Designed to be well-ventilated, and the full-height glass doors contribute to the sense of transparency.
The communal kitchen was kept open so that interactions are organic, encouraging the elderly to socialise.
Keeping in mind the elderly’s movement patterns, the daily activities of cooking, dining, cleaning up as well as mingling were kept to an intimate space.
An extensive array of full-height transparent glass doors was utilised along its entire frontage to enhance the social space’s appeal, allow effective cross-ventilation and daylight to flood the interiors and provide shelter in the event of adverse weather.
This notion of openness extends to the interior space. The kitchen forms the heart, around which spaces are organized to complement the preparation and partaking of food. Mobile partitions are strategically positioned to allow the flexibility of multiple concurrent activities and events of different scales to take place. Activity areas were clearly demarcated through colour and explained with universally understood signages and pictograms - cutting across different language and ethnic backgrounds.
Through these thoughtful design elements and open concept, the space retains a lively and dynamic character while effectively working to reduce social stigma and address the psyche of the stay-alone seniors.
The facility reinterprets social settings for the elderly, as a pioneering and alternative model that is inclusive and cost-efficient to create and maintain across open neighbourhoods.
Specialist Services
Integrated services provided for this project.
AWARDS
| 2020 |
President*s Design Award GoodLife! Makan |
|---|---|
| 2016 |
SIA Architectural Design Awards 2016 GoodLife! Makan |
| 2016 |
SIA Architectural Design Awards 2016 - Best Project with Construction Budget of less than S$2 million GoodLife! Makan |