Retirement Community Transformed from the Yongan Hotel

China's official data report predicts that by 2022 China's population over 65 years old will account for 14% of the total population, entering an aged society from an aging society. The demographic change has created new market demand and activated more new development projects in China with the core of elderly care, This emerging building type also inspires us as architects to research on "people-oriented", "aging-friendly", "community health management" and other spatial demand-oriented topics.
With the saturation of construction in Beijing, many new retirement communities are located in the suburbs of the city. We aim to achieve a "CCRC-style" full life-cycle care community that meets the needs of the elderly, including those who are active, demented, and disabled. We also call this type of community "3H", and the design concept covers the vision of "Home", the service of "Hotel", and the medical care of "Healthcare".
The design is inspired by the concept of living in a traditional Beijing courtyard, hoping to give the elderly not only a living room, but also a sense of home and a way of life of traditional neighborhood communication within the courtyard and hutongs, realizing the vision of "creating a garden, a poetic habitat". By re-organizing the flow of people and vehicles, the parking space occupying the building enclosure is replaced by a green central landscape courtyard, where there is a space for the elderly to practice Tai Chi in the morning, a space for neighborhood communication, a shared farm for organic vegetable cultivation, a fish pond for koi, a rockery waterfall for sketching and painting, and a garden for feeling the changes of the seasons. In addition to the living space, the first floor of each building is connected by a corridor to include a large living room, a music classroom, a painting and calligraphy studio, a community clinic, a health management center, an aging rehabilitation training, a restaurant, and a small theater to care for the mental and physical needs of each elderly person and to encourage each to participate in the activities of the extended family.