Alzheimer Society Toronto
Project Location
Toronto, Canada
Project scope
Environmental Design
Alzheimer Society Toronto (AST) provides support and programming to those living with dementia and Alzheimer’s disease, their families, and their caregivers. In the Toronto office, the team regularly hosts workshops and events for their clients. Unfortunately, the space had very poor acoustics, intense bright lighting, glossy white floors, awkward seating, and a difficult floorplan for clients to easily navigate in the space.
The space also served a dual purpose as an employee lunchroom, complete with a kitchen area. AST engaged Haft2 to redesign the space and develop a dementia-friendly event space.
Solution
Haft2 interviewed AST staff to understand their objectives and the needs of their clients. We also completed an environmental assessment, outlining the key areas for improvement, developing a floor plan, and overall aesthetic for the room.
Working with a limited budget and specific deadlines, Haft2 prioritized requirements. Our first priority was to reconfigure the space. We divided the space by designing printed vinyl on new frosted glass walls and door. To solve the acoustics issue, we recommended a FLOR carpet panel system that would not only improve acoustics, but also reduce glare and add warmth to the space.
We replaced the existing lighting with new LED softer lighting and worked with Sherwin-Williams to select dementia-friendly paint colours based on their prior dementia and seniors’ research. This new colour palette aligned with the large photography graphics and inspirational quotes we designed to bring life and purpose to the space. The reconfigured space also included updates to the kitchen area.
Finally, new furniture was required for AST workshops and events. We explored various chair options and decided on more traditional, sturdy seating and larger portable tables that could be reconfigured for multipurpose events. New storage cabinets also functioned as large tables.
Results
As the new space was unveiled to clients and team members, we received very positive feedback. They commented on the warm and inviting space, better acoustics, dementia-friendly lighting and wall colours. They appreciated the ease of navigating in the space. Alzheimer Society of Toronto shared: “Thank you for helping bring our vision to life to make our space more engaging and welcoming for our clients and staff!”
