INCH Architecture launches interiors business for care sector

Celebrating a decade of dementia-design expertise, INCH believes that its unique evidence-based approach to designing enabling environments can play a critical role in reducing falls, anxiety and social isolation at a time when Britain’s ageing population is placing increasing pressure on the care system.

According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of people aged 85 and over is projected to more than double in the coming decades, increasing demand for supportive environments across care homes, assisted living and later life housing.

Spearheaded by interior designer Lynsey Hutchinson and advanced nurse practitioner Gayle Henry, INCH Interiors believes that many care environments across the UK were never designed with modern understanding of ageing, mobility or dementia in mind and that their evidence-based, academic approach is unique, tried and tested with outstanding results.

INCH Interiors is currently working on its first dementia design project for Blueleaf Care, one of the UK’s leading care providers.

Elizabeth Butcher of Blueleaf Care said: “As experts in the care sector, we understand how important it is to support those living with dementia. Thoughtful, dementia-friendly design choices can reduce anxiety, promote independence, and create environments where people feel safe, comfortable, and empowered. Partnering with INCH has been incredibly valuable, and their expertise has been integral in helping us embed dementia design principles into our interiors and product selection.”

Previously, Lynsey was a senior interior designer at the world-renowned Dementia Services Development Centre, University of Stirling, where she advised on dementia and ageing design internationally.

Lynsey Hutchinson, INCH Interiors, said: “Designing environments that enable goes beyond designing for care. It means that we design from an evidence-base, working in collaboration with our academic colleagues to draw upon cutting-edge research  that is underpinned by empathy and understanding.”

An advanced Nurse Practitioner and dementia-care specialist, with 25+ years of clinical practice, Gayle Henry, INCH Interiors said: “Our unique approach of blending expertise from architecture, interior design and clinical practice means that our designs are rooted in design research and clinical best practice.”

Alisdair Clements, INCH director, said: “We are excited to bring a decade of academic and dementia-design expertise to the UK care market, with the launch Scotland’s first care focused interiors business headed by academic experts Lynsey Hutchinson and Gayle Henry. We offer design as a practical tool that is evidence based and can actively improve health, safety and wellbeing for older people. This builds upon the practice’s existing experience in workspace and education interiors.”