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The Future of Ageing

A set of interactive floorplans which 'age in place' to tell the story of how homes will adapt as we get older


Client: SPACE10

Duration: 3 Months, 2023

Topic: Ageing, Futures of Ageing



The Brief


What can we learn from older people about designing homes for our future selves? In partnership with SPACE10 and Enable Foundation in Hong Kong, we defined four unique approaches to ageing, what explored the diversity of approaches to getting older in the future. Each approach is presented alongside a floor plan which ‘ages in place’, demonstrating ways our homes adapt.


Research and Methodology


Partnering with the Enable Foundation in Hong Kong, we visited 8 households who all defined their ageing as 'graceful'. The team conducted ethnographies, home visits, and together . I led the research design and synthesis, collaborating with Cantonese designers and translators.


At the same time, the Danish team visited professors who focused on ageing at Copenhagen university and interviewed multiple healthcare experts.



Key Insights


We developed four typologies that provide a more nuanced perspective on ageing. They were organised along the matrix of:

How much do you embrace Youthfullness vs Ageing?

How much do you embrace Newness vs Familiarity?


Control -Resisting ageing by creating structures to maintain a sense of continuity and predictability


Indulge - Ignoring ageing by using new- found time to live luxuriously, and start new projects 


Settled - Accepting ageing by simplifying routines, decluttering and making permanent health and care arrangements 


Curious - Embracing ageing as an empowering evolution of their identity in order to discover new ways of being


Download the Final Report




The Team


  • Enable Foundation Research Team, Leading on Ethnographies in Hong Kong

  • SPACE10 Team Leading on Brief and 3D Prototyping

  • Sophia Luu leading on Design Research and Insight Creation



Photo Credit: LAM LAM for Enable Foundation product photos by Esteban Gomez


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© 2024 Sophia Luu

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