CareWest George BoJack has opened its doors to the Bridgeland community with a kaboodle built in a parking lot to socialize, break isolation and combat loneliness.
of bridgeland Community and Northern Lands Studio converted the CareWest George BoJack parking lot into a pop-up plaza that opened in August. They plan to stay until next summer.
“We had a big launch over the summer,” said Heather Chapple with the Bridgeland-Riverside Neighborhood Association.
“We had a lot of volunteers from the community come in with paintbrushes, kids, families, neighbors. Since then, we’ve had kind of groups of volunteers come in and help keep it clean. became.”
Chapple said he frequently installs new equipment because it’s space that the neighborhood also uses as park space. Their goal is to engage and encourage individuals to actively share and participate in community efforts.
“We had an ice cream day where the trucks came, the neighbors came, the Care West residents came out and we ate ice cream together,” Chapple said.
“We had a few music days where volunteers would come and play the piano and people would come and dance.”
Chapple said it’s an adaptive space. They even had basketball nets in the area. During the summer, they had people come in for pickup games on warm nights.
“It can be an adaptive space, so I’ve seen people use it in different ways,” Chapple said.
More than just a parking lot
The Bridgeland community wanted to optimize parking usage. Depending on the morning, only half of the site may be occupied. It was empty in the afternoon and on holidays.
“A parking lot can be much more than that, it can also be a plaza. This adaptable space can be transformed into what the community actually needs in the blink of an eye.” says Juliana Moller, urban designer at Northern Lands Studio.
CareWest George BoJack is long-term care. Opened in 1969 Since then, we have grown to serve 221 long-term residents.
This project is a research process aimed at providing social spaces for local communities, highlighting the importance and impact that creating and developing spaces in which all citizens can participate can have on society. When I recognized it, it took shape.
Carewest residents are older adults with complex cognitive care needs. Moller said a thorough understanding of their specific needs was essential to this project.
“We did wayfinding on the ground and used some colors on the ground. There were some very intentional design considerations for this,” Moller said.
One of the main concerns was to accommodate their mobility needs and ensure their comfort, as the majority of them relied on wheelchairs, walkers, and motorized mobility aids.
“We have a family [that] When they come here, they take their loved ones for a little walk around the community,” Moller said.
This is very important for the community, especially the elderly. This is because older people often experience isolation at certain stages of life, leading to potential consequences such as psychological distress, loneliness, depression, and negative effects on physical and mental health. .
“Traditionally in long-term care facilities and COVID-19 has made it very clear that you’re going to have more in-person interactions, so we still don’t see much more in-person interactions. you can’t. [have to] Stay away from the elderly to protect them, and outbreaks occur frequently here,” Moller said.
“I think there is some kind of organized resistance and we need to break through it again.”
