Age-in-Place Design and the Silver Tsunami

One of the more unfortunate certainties of life is that we’re all on a perpetual path; a path better known as the aging process. With every passing year comes a new reminder of its permanence. Whether it is the emergence of new creases in the skin or unfamiliar aches and pains in the morning, from the day we step into this world we accept the certainty of time’s aggravating scheme to age us.

For many years now generation ‘baby-boomer’ has taken leadership over our economic, political, and technological sphere. By 2030, the population of aging baby-boomers is expected to double. This fast-approaching time period is being referred to as the Silver Tsunami.

While living in a home does have the allure of convenience and functionality, it is a widely unpopular option among our beloved baby-boomers. According to AARP, older Americans would like to remain within their homes interminably and cope with the aging process independent of any outside aide. This proclamation is leading individuals to be more cognizant about the accessibility of their forever homes. The troubling reality of this concern is that many of their current homes are not adequately equipped to help facilitate the aging process. Re-modeling to incorporate these accommodations can seem costly, but compared to the annual expense of relocating to an elderly home, re-modeling can evolve into an extremely advantageous investment.

Features of an ‘age-friendly’ home include accessible entries (ramps, elevators, etc..), main-level garages to help shield individuals from the elements, adaptations to minimize physical impact when navigating through different areas of the home, incorporating larger amounts of easily reachable storage, an abundance of natural lighting for increased visibility, grab-bars in the bathroom, and wheel-chair accessible hallways/doorways just to name a few.We like to make sure that you aren't going to out-age your home. Incorporating ‘age-in-place’ design principles into our concepts makes us a ‘barrier-free’ firm. Below are just a few examples of our many ADA accessible, universally designed projects:

The Wonderland Creek Townhome complex is located in North Boulder, and created with accessibility and equal opportunity in mind.

Harrison Street Townhomes - Denver, CO

The Dairy Center for the Arts in Boulder, Colorado was designed to be completely ADA accessible.

Getting old is a difficult natural progression. We don’t want anyone to have to vacate their forever-home. The “Silver Tsunami” is fast-approaching. Keeping your aging needs in mind when it comes to your home is a proactive way to assure that you’re already up on higher ground before it hits.