Senior living community, Valparaíso – Healing Garden
In March 2021, the Playa Ancha long-stay residence for older adults (ELEAM) was inaugurated in Valparaíso. The facility, owned by Senama and managed by the Refugio de Cristo Foundation, is located next to the El Lúcumo ravine and consists of 2,500 m2 of infrastructure designed to accommodate 70 elderly people with moderate or severe functional dependency.
Since its inception in 2021, the Cosmos Foundation has been working with the residence community to transform the 2,600 square meters of patio surrounding the grounds into a Therapeutic Garden that serves as a place of encounter, therapy, and relaxation, incorporating native flora into its design.
Participatory diagnosis
Through a clinical, social, and physical assessment of ELEAM residents and a participatory design process that also included family members and staff, the main needs and problems of the facility’s current courtyards were identified, as well as the hopes and expectations of its users.
Through this process, four criteria were defined for the design of this therapeutic garden:
- Improve accessibility to the courtyard, allowing for adequate space for the arrival and reception of visitors and ensuring universal accessibility, making the space accessible to residents with disabilities.
- Allow for clinical and sensory therapies focused on older adults and their self-sufficiency; creating spaces for developing cognitive skills, sensory integration, and physical activation, incorporating sensory and interpretive paths throughout the tour, where users feel free and confident to navigate the various programs independently.
- Promote social and personal activities that foster integration and identity within the home, creating spaces for internal and family gatherings that are connected to the environment and neighborhood.
- Allow for introspection by designating spaces for individual therapy and rest for employees.
From inclination to accessibility
The ELEAM’s 2,600 m2 courtyard has a slope of up to 80%, so its current use is almost nonexistent, considering that most of the residents have reduced mobility or disabilities.
To address this situation, the architectural design takes the criteria of the participatory process and proposes creating a path of walkways and ramps through various terraces that function as amenities and extended spaces for the home, incorporating areas for workshops and therapies, for family visits, for staff to rest, for community gatherings, and for physical activity, in addition to a sensory and contemplative path.
Inspiration from the surrounding natural spaces
The ELEAM of Valparaíso is just a few meters from the Federico Santa María Cliffs Nature Sanctuary and next to the El Lúcumo ravine, both natural spaces that serve as landscape inspiration and invite design in harmony with the territory.
For this reason, the garden design incorporates species native to these ecosystems, contributing to biodiversity conservation and the recovery and restoration work carried out by residents in these spaces.