Many aspects of a new approach to housing the elderly have now been developed. There are a significant benefits to design buildings that include both young and old.

I have been able to design traditional apartment condominium units and the building in a way that lets the elderly have significantly more options as they age. We include features such as a dining/meeting space, kitchen, support care rooms and gurney sized elevator in the building that allow extended care for the small group of elderly that well require additional care over their life. I am able to include features that allow younger seniors acquire a comfortable 2 or 3 bedroom unit with a large terrace. The master bedroom is designed to meet the requirements of a seniors supported unit. It includes a small kitchenette. The master bedroom also has a backdoor entrance. In this way visiting relatives can be somewhat independent or the unit can be rented out individually for short periods of time as a guest room. As one or the other of the elderly partners start to have some difficulty, the other partner is able assist them along with the health services available in the building. When one partner dies and the other develops difficulties they have the ability to move into their supportive unit and sell the remainder of the unit to fund their last years. The economics of the building works particularly well when one includes affordable compact loft units. This combination of larger units for the elderly and the higher number of units for the younger demographic can be done in a building with as few as 4 units or scaled up to a building with more than 150 units.