Inside retirement housing

Aptly entitled, this book provides an insider perspective on the design, build and occupancy of retirement housing. This thorough interrogation of the nature of the retirement housing market, and the motivations of the people who live and work in it, is drawn from the author’s primary research conducted between 2014 and 2018. The proportion of people living longer has grown in recent decades and is predicted to increase. According to the Office for National Statistics, in England in 2021 there were 10.4miliion people over 65 with 1.7million of these being over 85. It is predicted that a quarter of the UK population will be over 65 by 2050. The design and quality of housing can have a significant impact on health and wellbeing, especially in later life. This book provides an invaluable understanding of the benefits and disadvantages of specialist housing for older people. It will be a useful resource for anyone concerned with design and delivery, as well as those considering it as an option. From his perspective as an architect and educator, in the context of design research for change, Clarke provides invaluable insights into all the factors to consider in the design of housing that can support living well in later life. By sharing his findings and reflections on his research into a particular developer’s model of retirement housing, he compares accounts of the lived experience of people who live and work in the building to the perspectives of the housing developer.