Bringing senior dining design up to date

Our oldest citizens are a changing demographic. As they consider their next moves in life, today’s “new seniors” are especially leery about the stereotypical (stodgy, monotonous, no fun) aspects of residing in a senior living community, with foodservice being a top concern. Since everyone knows we eat with our eyes first, before seniors even sit down to a meal, the experience needs to begin with the look and feel of the dining location. Austin-based interior design firm studioSIX5 has been working on “face-lifts” for several senior living communities, with a focus on outdated casual dining spots that “often resemble a fusion of a school cafeteria and the game room of a 1950s nursing home,” according to Leslie McVey Hicks, project design manager for studioSIX5. Here’s how Hicks and the team went to work on two cafes at the Erickson Living campus in Denver.