The Importance of Lighting in Care Home Design

• Lighting is crucial in care home design, as older adults typically need twice as much light by age 75 to see clearly.
• Maximising natural light improves residents’ mood, sleep, and vitamin D levels; this can be achieved with large windows, thoughtful furniture placement, and bright interiors.
• Regular window cleaning not only increases natural light but also enhances views, contributing positively to residents’ well-being.
• Artificial lighting should be tailored by space: bright ceiling lights for dining areas and corridors, and softer wall lights or lamps for living areas and bedrooms to support comfort and functionality.

Lighting plays a pivotal role in care home design, primarily because, as we age, our eyes can deteriorate so much that by the age of 75 we require twice as much light in order to see things properly. In what follows, we will look at the different types of lighting and how they can be utilised in a care home setting.

Benefits of Natural Light in Care Homes

Natural light is the most important source of light in a care home – or indeed any home – which is why we want to maximise it as much as possible. Natural daylight can boost our levels of vitamin D, something which barely any of us gets enough of, and also boosts our serotonin, which affects our moods. It also affects and helps regulate our sleep patterns, which is extremely important as we get older because sleep becomes harder to come by.

Here are some tips to help you boost natural daylight through care home design:

• • Utilise large, floor-to-ceiling windows: not only do these windows give a room a real sense of space, they also let natural light flood in, which is ideal in communal areas like living spaces.
  • Be mindful of where you place furniture: furniture placement is extremely important in care home living spaces, and choosing to place things like sofas and armchairs in front of windows can really obstruct the flow of natural light into a room.

• Get your windows cleaned regularly: Not only will cleaning your windows regularly let more daylight pass through, it will also allow residents to have a clearer view of the outdoors, both of which will contribute to an overall improvement in quality of life.

• Keep the interior bright: Keeping the colour scheme in the care home light and bright will ensure that more light is reflected whilst giving the space an overall cheerier feel.

Artificial Light in Care Homes

Unfortunately, even with the most optimal design in the world, natural daylight won’t be able to account for the entirety of a care home’s lighting needs. Here are some different areas where artificial light can be utilised:

• In dining areas and corridors, brighter ceiling lights can be appropriate to help residents more easily focus on the tasks of eating and walking.

In living spaces and bedrooms, softer wall lights might be a good option as these spaces tend to be less task focused, so brighter lights aren’t as necessary. However, it’s also worth having stand-alone light sources such as lamps in these areas as they can be very useful for things like reading.

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