Designing Retirement Community Third Places: Attributes Impacting how Well Social Spaces are Liked and Used

Abstract

Retirement years are a time of shifting social networks, in part because workplace relationships are often left behind. This is particularly detrimental for older adults because social interaction has been shown to have a greater impact on health of older adults than younger adults (Lee, Jang, Lee, Cho, & Park, 2008). This positive relationship between social interaction and health outcomes underscores the importance of helping older adults establish and maintain social relationships. To support resident social interaction, Continuing Care Retirement Communities (CCRCs) commonly provide spaces for social use including recreation rooms and commercial services such as cafes. Accordingly, CCRCs serve as fruitful ground to explore how social space design relates to why some spaces are popular gathering places and others are underutilized. Third places, defined by Oldenburg (1999), are lively gathering places where people can engage regularly in conversation, satisfying social needs. While Oldenburg's study provides guidance about designing third places to host quality interaction among the general population, it does not distinguish social behavior for people of different ages or living contexts. The research reported here takes steps to bridge this gap. Confirming earlier findings, this study of a CCRC's independent living residents ( n = 179) found social spaces residents characterized as having third–place atmosphere and décor characteristics were more well liked and well used than other spaces designed to promote socialization. This suggests designing CCRC social spaces with third–place characteristics may lead to more use and in turn contribute to healthier resident social lives.