Abstract
In a global context of population ageing, many research are conducted to improve the quality of life of older people living in assisted living facilities, but few of these works develop an architectural approach. This research aims to propose new ways to design these places of life, breaking with the dominant hospital and/or hotel models. The general assumption is that an architectural environment with homelike characteristics will allow residents to feel inhabitants, which should promote their welfare, autonomy and the development of social interactions. Our procedure is based on the concept of Evidence Based Psychology, with a randomized controlled trial. The entrance hall of several facilities corresponding to standards were refurbished in a homelike way, and then we evaluated comparing before vs after; refurbished nursing home vs non refurbished. The study was multidimensional and exploratory in its research tools; quality of life scales, behavioral mapping, qualitative interviews. This work take place in the French context of recent emergence of PhD in architecture and contributes de facto to the epistemological reflection that goes with it. It also helps to raise awareness of the importance of the built environment to the quality of life and highlights the social role of architectes.