Modularity and customisation for home care – Configuration and multicriteria analysis of furnishings

Abstract

Given the ageing population and the growing interest in prior verification of the compatibility of existing housing to accommodate home care activities, this paper reports the results of a research aimed at implementing tools to support the design of housing adaptation in anticipation of flexibility to accompany the evolving needs of the elderly cared for. An evaluation system was structured starting with the definition of requirements connoting the home space for home care, which was useful for selecting and verifying, on a performance basis, the compliance of furniture available on the market, also in relation to modularity and readiness for customisation. The best-performing furniture solutions were entered into a database that will be made interoperable in future research developments in a BIM environment. Article info Received: 10/09/2023; Revised: 08/10/2023; Accepted: 19/10/2023

Keywords

• home care
• furnishings
• modularity and customisation
• multicriteria analysis
• BIM