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Stacey Moseley
In 50 years' time your home will be environmentally savvy, be able to keep check on your vitals and tell you when you need to exercise.
It will also be a lot smaller but the neighbourhood garden party won’t be lost, said one insurance provider.
According to Apia, the home of the future will likely be much 'smarter’ and completely wired to adapt to our needs with smart-glass, moving walls and sensors built in.
Despite what we are accustomed to today, the family home will be smaller and for the most part be single-storeyl buildings with flexible multi-use spaces.
The homes will also share common facilities with neighbours, utilising design concepts that help people stay in their homes longer.
Apia worked with a panel of experts to examine key social and economic trends, in order to understand what the future of Australia’s over 50s may look like in 2042.
“Today’s 20 year-olds will celebrate their 50th in 2042,” Apia spokesperson David Skapinker said.
“The proportion of over 50s in Australia is growing exponentially, and our homes are going to have to change significantly to help us adapt to the challenges of ageing.
“Think of the home of the future as a friendly personal assistant who helps you stay healthy, happy and organised.”
According to Guy Luscombe, head of aged design at the leading architectural firm, Rice Daubney, the home of the future will do more with less.
“Smarter design, building methods, materials and technology will not only make our homes more sustainable, but more flexible and able to adapt to our changing needs,” he said.
“We will be living more densely but we will be closer to the things we need and like. We will have all the advantages of community and still be able to maintain our privacy, independence and freedom if we choose too.”
Here are the panel’s predictions for the future:
1. Technology will be totally integrated
Homes will be ‘smart’ and become your friendly personal assistant. It will take instructions from your health care team, making sure you get the exercise, food and medication you need, when you need it. It will keep you organised and present all of the information you need on almost any of the surfaces in your home.
2. Homes will be multi-purpose, incorporating work and living
Homes may be smaller in 2042, but we will use them more efficiently. The spare second bedroom will double as an office where the over 50s of the future will be able to work and conference into their employer's office, whether that is in Australia or overseas.
3. Homes will be fully sustainable and environmentally friendly
Whether it is the solar panels built directly on the roof, the rainwater collection system, or the grey water and waste recycling system, over 50s in the future will be fully environmentally sustainable. As the global population climbs towards 10 billion, we will all have to do more with fewer resources.
4. Gardens and nature will play a vital role in quality of life
In every scenario the expert panel could envision, the thumbs of over 50s stayed well and truly green. The highly networked, digital world people inhabit drives up the value of time spent in, and interacting with, the natural environment.
5. Suburbia will be transformed, with more ‘village’ style living, with common ground and facilities between dwellings
Everybody needs good neighbours, and in 2042 new ways of co-existing have developed. Individual dwellings centred around common gardens and shared open space and facilities will be the development of choice, helping to reduce upkeep.
Apia worked with one of the leading architecture firms, Rice Daubney, to build a vision of what the home of the future looks like. You can view the home of tomorrow here.
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