Hot off the Press from ISH in Frankfurt which is on this week comes this insight into how Bathroom Architecture is affected by demographic change.
We are living longer and there are fewer of us. These are the two factors – caused by increased life expectancy and a diminishing birth rate – that are leading to a process of change in the age structure of the population. Thanks to medical progress and a more aware life-style, people are not only older these days, they remain healthy and active for longer.
Anyone planning to re-design their bathroom now should, therefore, first and foremost, be aware that a new bathroom is, as a rule, designed with a useful lifespan in mind of 20 years or more. It must, on the one hand, therefore, meet the requirements of the ways in which it is currently used and which will, on the other hand, most certainly change in later stages of life.
It is, however, not only in later years that planning, which concentrates on functionality as well as looks, will repay the investment. Users quickly come to appreciate the comfort of non-slip floors or a walk-in shower. Often it is the little details, which make the difference to the bathroom and its fittings. Ergonomic drawers and cupboards are just as much part of that as the right height for the vanity unit, a seat in the shower or, indeed, a slip-resistant floor covering. It follows that before any new building work or extensive modernisation, the advice of a specialist should be sought. An off-the-peg bathroom design will never be able to meet people’s individual expectations one hundred per cent. Since a bathroom is intended to give pleasure over many years, it is well worth investing a little time in individual planning for one’s own needs.
So a bathroom of this kind is, at the end of the day, not about old age, but about expectations. It is an advantage for people at all stages in their lives – a bathroom for the generations.
Many ISH exhibitors have recognised this and organised themselves early to face the demographic changes, espousing the cause of ‘Perspectives in Bathrooms’. Their innovative bathroom concepts combine safety, comfort and flexibility with the highest aesthetic standards.”
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