Rebekka Dick

With the context set by charity organisations and the Scottish government providing a backdrop of the extreme side effects isolation has on the elderly and the large population of lonely dwellers in Scotland, it was important to discover a new approach for reducing isolation by transforming existing residential communities without the need for demolition. Through precedent research into cohousing schemes, a framework was set around design principles to encourage social contact. The framework set out principles that included indoor and outdoor communal spaces, visibility onto communal spaces, car parking on the periphery of the site, a transition between public and private spaces, semi-private outdoor space close to private units for socialising, access to key facilities, and dwellings that can be slightly smaller than typical units due to the provision of shared facilities in the common house. 

The simple social contact design principles can be implemented in Alpin Terrace to create more communal and friendly environments and encourage people to live in more sustainable ways through tasks such as growing vegetables or sharing a car with neighbours, even reducing car use altogether by providing local areas with job opportunities and local shared spaces to be enjoyed by all residents. When living in these neighbourly environments we can check up on one another to reduce isolation in the elderly and integrate them into an inclusive society.