AGEING-IN-PLACE IN KRETA AYER

Abstract

Singapore’s population is ageing at an unprecedented rate, with statistics showing that in 2030 there will be 1 elderly in every 3 adults, and ¼ of them will be living alone in their later years. The change in demography and living arrangement, together with changes in education, wealth and health background of the new aged, require a change in residential design that focuses on “ageing-in-place”, to create spaces that people can grow old in and have total control of when they’re old, spaces that facilitate and promote a healthy lifestyle, and last but not least, spaces that encourage socialising among the residents and their contributing to the community. The Kreta Ayer neighbourhood in Chinatown has a high percentage of elderly people, especially those who live alone in one-room flats. Unlike the typical HDB precinct, this neighbourhood is unique as it has the Kreta Ayer People’s Theatre and Community Centre, one of the oldest in Singapore, in the middle of the compound. These facilities provide opportunities for community bonding and individual development, but the buildings are not well connected to the surrounding residential blocks, both visually and physically, and thus are not frequently used by the residents. The project targets to redesign the spatial quality of this community platform, and add a new residential block in the compound that accommodates mainly for the elderly. The principle throughout the project is about “living around a courtyard”, which is a familiar living lifestyle in traditional Chinese culture: the community platform is treated as the common courtyard of the compound, and in the newly added residential blocks, units are grouped around a common courtyard to form a cluster. It is an exploration of the potential of treating the public and neighbourhood place as the extension of one’s living room. Therefore, the notion of spatial hierarchy between public/private, inside/outside, and “the neighbours” in a common HDB block are redefined. Hence, the comfort zone of the elderly is extended beyond the boundary of their house.