When choosing fabrics to adorn seating in a care home environment, you may think it’s more about style than substance, but fabrics should be functional as well as good looking, says Harriet Green, Camira’s product manager for healthcare
Interior design is without doubt becoming a commercial priority for many care homes and care groups as they switch from old fashioned institutional concepts to those with a more homely and luxurious feel. The considered design of a care home interior not only exudes quality and a professional image, but it can also contribute to the comfort and wellbeing of the residents living there.
Regardless of the need for a focus on aesthetics and a less institutional look, every aspect of a care home has to be functional and enable a good standard of care. Seamlessly functioning in what are usually high traffic, high demand settings, requires low maintenance design solutions, and the ability to maintain and clean surfaces effectively – including fabrics. Therefore management decisions when selecting soft furnishings need to take into account a number of factors (see Panel 1 opposite).
Optimising cleanability without sacrificing design and comfort is the ultimate aim. Seating is usually manufactured to order using specialist healthcare fabrics that are highly sophisticated engineered solutions.
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