Spatial Transfigurations by Floor Plan Type of Elderly Center in Apartment Complex

The purposes of the study were to try configuring categorization of floor plans of elderly centers located in apartment complexes and to find out the spatial transfigurations regarding floor plan types. The data for the analysis of the study were collected from 56 elderly centers of apartment complexes in Ulsan by observations and interviews from July 3 through 13, 2012. The results are as follows. Firstly, the floor plans of the elderly centers were categorized into six types, which were 2R+L+K, 2R+LK, 1R+L+K/1R+LK, 1RL+K, 1RLK, and 2R+K/1R+K(no living room). Secondly, there were no salient differences among the plan types for the characteristics of physical environment of the centers. The types of 2R+L+K were relatively big in size and two thirds of the centers had gender-segregated rooms. Lastly, spatial transfigurations was found in sixty-percent of the centers, which included change of spatial arrangement, functional change, and functional addition. Interestingly, the more the spaces were segregated, the more the spatial transfigurations were performed in the way for the integration of functions of the rooms.