A Small Co-living Community for Seniors-Five Hands, One Heart

Hey! Wouldn’t it be awesome to live with a few good friends in a beautiful place? Not a nursing home – more like a tiny village where five little houses hold hands and form a circle. I call it the “Elder House,” but honestly it could also be a vacation retreat or a healing getaway.

The main idea: five bean-shaped houses, like five hands hugging a shared garden. Four or five small households (6–8 seniors) live together, help each other, walk on the rooftops, do Tai Chi, watch the sunset – safe, warm, and happy.

Tools: X‑Acto knife, cutting mat, steel ruler, UHU glue, grey and green cardboard.2B pencil, eraser, tracing paper, coffee (optional).

Materials list: Sketching tools, CAD, Fusion 360, cardboard, X‑Acto knife, white card，Plastic card，good mood.

I grabbed a pencil and started doodling. Circles? Too boring. Squares? Too cold. Then I drew a curvy, free-form shape – a bit like a broad bean – and BAM, that was it. Soft, friendly, organic. I made five of them, different sizes: two big ones (one-bedroom + living room), two smaller ones (studio apartments), and one tiny helper house (storage, visitor bed, and the main entrance).

I arranged them in a ring, leaving a small garden in the middle. Each house has big windows facing outward for the view, but only small windows facing the garden for privacy. After about five tries, the five beans really looked like five hands hugging – I gave myself a mental high-five.

I scanned my best sketch and fired up AutoCAD . Using splines, I carefully traced each bean-shaped wall. Then I added doors, windows, bathrooms, kitchens, little private patios, and – super important – wheelchair-friendly ramps. Old folks shouldn’t have to climb stairs.

The helper house got a storage closet and a fold-out bed for visiting grandkids. The main entrance is also there, like a friendly little gatehouse.

I also drew each unit’s tiny private garden. All houses are connected via gentle rooftop ramps – more on that later.

Flat roofs rock – you can actually use them! My five houses have different heights, but they’re all linked by accessible ramps. You can stroll from the lowest roof to the highest – it feels like a tiny mountaintop hike, but super easy.

On the rooftops I placed:

1. A walking loop
2. A Tai Chi deck
3. Chess corners with umbrellas
4. Loungers for sunbathing
5. A few solar panels (for common electricity)
6. “Bubble skylights” – curved transparent domes that bring natural light down into the rooms below

I also added an automatic wheelchair lift to reach the roofs. Wooden railings all around (1.1m high) keep everyone safe.

I imported the CAD plan into Fusion 360 (free for students). I extruded the walls – each house at its own height – then cut openings for doors and windows. Added ramps and all the rooftop goodies.

Materials: Light‑colored stucco for the walls (creamy, soft), wood for window frames, door frames, and the walkways. The whole community looks warm and friendly, not cold and hospital‑like.

I spun the model around like a maniac – bird’s‑eye view, human view from the garden, rooftop view. Then I rendered a few images. Sunlight hitting the stucco, shadows falling on the wood deck… I actually wanted to move in.

Screens aren’t enough – I wanted to touch it. I printed the CAD plan at 1:50 scale and glued it to the back of grey cardboard. Then – carefully, slowly – I cut out each wall with an X‑Acto knife. Curves need a gentle touch; don’t try to cut all in one go.

After cutting all the pieces, I glued them to a base board. Then added roofs, ramps, and little railings. For the garden, I cut a few abstract trees from green card paper – not realistic but you get the idea.

The model is about A3 size. I held it near the window to watch how light and shadows moved. Took photos with my phone. That model now lives on my desk. Every time I look at it, I see “five hands hugging.”

This design isn’t just a building – it’s a healing place:

1. Emotional healing: Five families help each other, like family – no loneliness.
2. Physical healing: Walk, do Tai Chi, play chess on the roof – wheelchair accessible.
3. Environmental healing: Soft stucco, wood, a quiet garden, and a view of the sea or forest. Calm. Safe.

Five hands, one heart – a healing home for the young at heart