A new report by BDP presents a modular approach to housing design that aims to improve the quality of life for an ageing population. The ‘Reimagining Age-Friendly Living’ report explores how the design of more affordable houses and apartments can meet the physical and mental wellbeing requirements of older people. 

It reimagines urban centres as mixed-use neighbourhoods that allow people to grow older in a place that is well-connected to cultural, transport, healthcare, and a range of other amenities, creating a better quality of life for people throughout their ‘third’ and ‘fourth’ age.    

Adam Park, associate architect at BDP, explains: “Growth in the number of older people is a global phenomenon. In the UK it is expected that by 2040, the number of people living above the age of 85 will increase by at least 160%. The UK needs at least 30,000 purpose-built age-friendly units every year to meet this demand and only 8,000 are being built annually at present. 

“As we emerge from the pandemic and as government funding such as the Future High Streets Fund helps revitalise our towns and cities, this new report explores how underutilised sites transformed into vibrant age-friendly housing offer an enormous opportunity to turn our urban centres into inclusive, multi-generational neighbourhoods.”