Colours: Collectively Ours work with their clients to facilitate community dialogues that produce user-centric design. As society matures and changes, they believe the role of designers is to evolve as well.
Their recent project Second Beginnings: Senior Living Redefined is a project commissioned by the Lien Foundation to create 10 urban-design solutions that transform under-used spaces into thriving communities for senior citizens in Singapore. These solutions aim to enable seniors to lead active and engaged lives by pursuing passions, initiating interest-based activities, exercising and, if needed, being cared for within the community.
Design concepts feature a Viaduct Village where seniors can contribute to the community they’re in by providing them opportunity to set up a cafe, food stall, community farm, or care centres for neighbourhood children, a Hobby Factory with co-working spaces in disused air hangars or factory spaces for seniors to pursue their passions, participate in group physical activity, share work spaces and interests with like minded peers, and even convert their hobbies into creative business start-ups.
Other concepts include Community Pockets where residents can initiate interest-based activities, attend health checks and pick up skills from other seniors in the community, a shared Wholesome Market, rustic Co-op living options in a Floating Village, beautifully designed tropical Healing Stations and the Happy Express, a mobile alternative to standard eldercare facilities which are static and fixed. The concept is in the form of an old bus that connects seniors’ favourite haunts and places of interest with familiar landmarks and predictable routes, enabling seniors to re-establish their independence and mobility in the city, encouraging them to be spontaneous in a safe manner while injecting vibrancy into the streets.