Wayfinding in Multi-Storey Care Homes: Lifts, Stairs & Floor Identity
Multi-storey care homes present unique wayfinding challenges. This guide covers strategies for creating distinct floor identities, designing dementia-friendly lift lobbies and stairwells, and ensuring residents can navigate vertically as well as horizontally.
Multi-storey care homes introduce a layer of complexity that single-storey buildings do not have: vertical navigation. A resident who can navigate confidently along a corridor may become completely disoriented when they step out of a lift onto a different floor. If every floor looks identical, the resident has no environmental cues to tell them which floor they are on. The DSDC identifies vertical wayfinding as a common weakness in multi-storey care settings, noting that floor confusion is a frequent contributor to wandering incidents, anxiety, and distress.
Creating Distinct Floor Identities#
The most effective strategy for multi-storey wayfinding is to give each floor a distinct visual identity. This can be achieved through colour coding, thematic decoration, or a combination of both. Assign a primary colour to each floor and apply it consistently to walls, handrails, signage, and furnishings throughout that level. When a resident steps out of the lift, the floor colour immediately signals which level they are on. The DSDC recommends using strongly contrasting colours, such as green for ground floor and blue for first floor, rather than subtle variations of the same hue.
Strategies for distinct floor identity:
- Assign a unique colour to each floor and apply it to accent walls, handrails, signage borders, and furnishing details
- Use a thematic approach (e.g., 'Garden Floor', 'Riverside Floor') with corresponding artwork and imagery
- Install large floor-level indicators in lift lobbies, visible immediately upon exiting the lift
- Ensure corridor signage on each floor incorporates the floor colour or theme
- Display floor plans with 'You Are Here' markers in lift lobbies and at stairwell entrances
- Use different flooring patterns or colours on each level as a subtle but constant environmental cue
Lift Lobby Design#
The lift lobby is the first space a resident encounters on each floor and therefore the most important location for floor identity signage. Install a large, high-contrast sign directly opposite the lift doors indicating the floor name or number, using the floor's assigned colour. Include directional signs pointing towards key destinations on that floor. The lobby should feel distinctly different from lobbies on other floors, through colour, artwork, or a distinctive landmark object. This immediate differentiation prevents the 'every floor looks the same' confusion that drives vertical wayfinding failures.
Pro Tip
Inside the lift itself, use the floor colour system. Colour-code the lift buttons to match each floor's assigned colour, and display a simple floor guide inside the lift car. A resident who knows their room is on 'the blue floor' can press the blue button without needing to remember a floor number.
Stairwell Wayfinding#
Stairwells in care homes are often utilitarian spaces with bare walls and minimal signage. For residents who use stairs, this creates a disorienting void between the navigable environments of each floor. Paint stairwell walls in the colour of the floor they lead to, and install floor identification signs on each landing. Ensure lighting in stairwells is adequate, with a minimum of 200 lux on treads and landings. Handrails should contrast with the wall colour, and stair nosings should be clearly marked with a contrasting strip to reduce fall risk.
Recommended Products
Our directional signs and door signs can be colour-coordinated across floors to reinforce your floor identity system. Choose from our full colour range to assign distinct sign colours to each level of your care home, creating a coherent vertical wayfinding system that works with your horizontal signage.
Safety consideration
In multi-storey care homes, stairwells and lifts may need to be access-controlled for residents at risk of falls or wandering between floors. Wayfinding design should work in harmony with access control, not against it. Clearly sign restricted areas with explanations rather than simply locking doors, which can cause frustration and distress.
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