Samverkanshuset Nordstjärnan : Ett förbättringsförslag på utformningen mot visionen att öka interaktionen mellan generationerna

Sammanfattning: The municipalities of Sweden are currently facing challenges regarding facilitating the Swedish population with sufficient elderly care and daycare. As a result of better living conditions and medical advancements the swedish population and life expectancy is increasing, therefore the current amount of daycare centers and homes for the elderly is inadequate and there is a great need for increased production of such centers. For economic and surface efficient purposes so called common purpose buildings for both daycare and elderly care operations are being constructed around Sweden. Nordstjärnan in Umeå is an example of one such building, where elderly care and daycare is conducted in one common purpose building, with adjacent premises. By designing this common purpose building with the vision of increasing interaction between these operations, positive effects such as improved physical and mental health of the elderly as well as improved social and emotional development of children can be observed. Therefore, the purpose of this report is to illuminate the possibilities of projecting future common purpose buildings with the aim of increasing interaction between elderly care and daycare. The report is also meant to reproject the Nordstjärnans floor plan to promote increased interaction between operations. The report shows that the most appreciated premise at Nordstjärnan is the one called Torget/ Cafét which is used regularly for activities between generations and that other premises which were designed for increased interaction do not function as planned. The distance between the generations and the capacity of the elevator is also considered problematic as the mobility of the elderly is impaired. With the layout in the improvement proposal the two operations are placed closer together and creates two floors with mixed generations. The common premises on these floors are designed for activities which yield increased interaction. The improvement proposal also creates a better setting for increased mobility and spontaneous meetings in the building through an additional elevator. The blueprints in the improvement proposal should be considered inspiration for future common purpose buildings.   This report concludes that Torget is the premise which is the most appreciated and is used regularly for activities between the operations however to increase interaction between the two generations the operations must be placed closer together with increased availability for the elderly. Also, that a common purpose building with the vision of increasing interaction between generations contributes to improved physical and mental health of the elderly as well as promoting social and emotional development for children, including respect for the elderly.