Working alongside occupational therapists, care specialists, nurses and operations staff, we set out to understand how a nursing home for people with disabilities could become more liveable, and how it could strengthen residents’ sense of belonging, agency and independence.

The research was carried out at AWWA Home in Singapore in 2025. It led to Singapore’s first floor-based ward, which welcomed its first residents in 2026.

A day in the ward Hand-drawn plan of a seven-bed nursing home room over 24 hours, from 5am to 5am. The room is dark until 7am, fully lit from 10am to 5pm and dark again from 8pm. Residents are out of bed from 6 to 9am, 11am to 1pm, 3 to 4pm and 6 to 7pm, and in bed the rest of the time. A 24-hour clock shows time in and out of bed. in bed out of bed 061218

In a typical seven-bed ward, residents can spend up to 18 hours a day in bed, confined and unable to move independently.

Stakeholder constellation Residents at the centre. Inner circle, daily life: family caregiver and care specialists, with care specialists acting as the bridge to the family. Second ring, clinical care: occupational therapists and nurses. Outer ring, running the home: head of home, head nurse and maintenance team. ResidentsLife on the floor Family caregiverEmotional wellbeing Care specialistsBridge to family Occupational therapistsFunction and mobility NursesClinical care and safety Head of homeOperations, cost, vision Maintenance teamHygiene and sanitising Head nurseCare quality, protocols daily life clinical care runs the home

We mapped the different stakeholders involved, from residents and families to nurses and therapists, and spoke with each of them individually to understand their needs.

Post-it: Residents often have stronger core muscles and upper-trunk strength due to the floor-based, independent environment at home. This deteriorates in current bed-based nursing home environments.
Research board: what we wanted to understand and what we learnt from care specialists
Post-it: People can do so much beyond conventional care to help clients meet developmental milestones they have missed from their early years.
Research board: background, impact of floor-based wards, challenges and wishes
Post-it: The challenge for us is to come up with activities that meet their interests and their age appropriateness.
Research board: nursing shifts, staffing and challenges raised by nurses
Post-it: How can we design props in the floor-based wards to help residents prop themselves up?
Research board: interview notes from the head of home and operations
A resident and a care specialist sitting together on the floor mat, looking through a picture book Close-up of a resident’s hand with henna, resting on a picture book

We spent time alongside residents, watching how they lived and listening to them and their caregivers, to understand what matters to them.

Staff testing foam blocks, mats and material samples laid out on the floor of the activity hall

We built and tested many quick prototypes, trying out different blocks, foams and materials to find what worked ergonomically for both residents and the nurses caring for them.

The ward plan marked up by hand in red and teal during a co-creation session

We held ideation sessions with all stakeholders to explore how best to redesign the room’s layout once the beds were removed.

PlaySpace Semi-private rooms

Our new layout features semi-private spaces that expand each resident’s personal area to 5.5 sqm, offering the freedom to move comfortably beyond the confines of their bed. Additionally, we introduced a dedicated Playspace where residents can safely and independently socialize and interact with one another.

Early findings from the floor-based ward are promising.

  • Residents ask for help less often and try to do more on their own.
  • Nurses have more time for residents with higher care needs.
  • Residents help tidy their own spaces, which keeps them active throughout the day.
  • Cleaning has become part of their daily exercise routine.

A detailed impact assessment is currently being carried out through a variety of methods and tools, to understand the changes observed among residents of the new room in mental health and mood, movement and physical strength, and the ability to perform certain tasks independently.

The team that made this possible

Lee Lee Ng — Director of Disability and InclusionFarah binte Mat Yusoff — Head of HomeLay Kim See — Former Head of HomeKorrine Koh — Lead, ProgrammeMary Grace Marty — Nurse ManagerSteven Tan — Operations ManagerWai Loong — Care Specialist

Choi Ying — ResidentJason — ResidentLi Cheng — Resident

Benel Singapore — Fabrication Partner · benel.com.sg

Forest & Whale — Research and DesignGustavo Maggio and Wendy Chua

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Get Moving! began as an idea from the AWWA Home team during AWWAke, AWWA’s annual innovation drive. After it was selected as a winning project, AWWA brought in Forest & Whale to lead deeper research and design the new ward. In 2025, the project received the Good Design Research (GDR) grant from the DesignSingapore Council.