Page 191 - In Pursuit of the Sunbeam.indd

176 In Pursuit of the Sunbeam: A Practical Guide to Transformation from Institution to Household
“The bedroom hall is designed to create a buffer of privacy. In traditional nursing homes, its purpose has evolved to be a traffic way.”
Hallways, Bedrooms and Baths
The aforementioned spaces are all on the public side of the house. The more private spaces for bedrooms and bathing rooms are separated by passages and hallways that guests feel uncomfortable entering until properly invited.
The bedroom hallway is an important but misunderstood feature of home. Most of us don’t think about its purpose. The bedroom hall, however, is designed as a privacy buffer. This space signals to guests not to trespass into more private areas of the home. It is also intended to create a visual barrier to private rooms.
Because traditional nursing homes use bedroom hallways as public thoroughfares, many who are trying to leave behind the old ways identify halls as the enemy. We visualize long, dark tunnels cluttered with equipment. For many of us, that image symbolizes the ills of the system. As a result, emerging designs often completely eliminate halls by circling resident bedrooms around social areas. This design option sacrifices residents’ ability to control access to their private spaces.
Halls, although generally too long, are not the problem. The problem is how we use them and to what we connect them. In traditional nursing homes, hallways are designed to be main thoroughfares rather than privacy buffers.
When residents’ bedrooms are designed to access directly to semi- public spaces like the living and dining rooms, architects may not realize egress for fire safety must still be maintained. Open areas in semi-public rooms lined with adjacent bedroom doors may seem a likely spot for furnishings, but often they must remain vacant to ensure a clear path to the exit door. Analysis of the actual placement of the furniture in relation to code compliance is important to ensure the design is successful.
Some theories support giving bedrooms direct access to living spaces because visual connection cues help residents to leave their room and engage in community life. The authors believe that the feeling of home trumps this theory. Direct access of bedrooms to community living areas not only reduces privacy, it changes the character of a homey living room to a “common space.” The cues for engagement should be cultural; smells of kitchen, laughter from the other rooms, and the simple knowing of the household rhythms that comes with being part of home.
Placing bedrooms and bathing areas down a short bedroom hallway beyond social spaces is consistent with our personal home designs. Although governmental regulations mandate minimum hall width, the