Kipling Acres Long Term Care was completed by Montgomery Sisam in 2015.
TEXT Robert Davies, Director and Principal, Montgomery Sisam Architects
During the COVID-19 pandemic, long-term care homes have seen a significant share of superspreading events around the globe. According to Canada?s National Institute on Aging, as of early May, 82 percent of deaths from COVID-19 have occurred in the country?s long-term care homes. This is the highest proportion of deaths in long-term care settings among 14 countries.
Why is this happening, and what can we do about it" Is it possible to mitigate the biological science of an outbreak with building science"
Long-term care is licensed and regulated by the provinces, and is largely funded through public money. It has always stood apart from other types of health care?for example critical care, acute care, rehabilitation care?through a set of regulations and guidelines which insist that the design emphasizes a home-like experience over a clinical one. People in long-term care are referred to as residents, not patients. The architectural language of these settings includes town squares, neighbourhoods and spas. It considers rooms to be small houses lining a street. These notions reinforce the concept that long-term care facilities are intended to be scaled-down versions of regular community life.
It may come as no surprise that there is disparity in the existing building stock for long-term care homes across the country. While man...