The Room

Thursday morning 6am

You know they could design these places better. I am lying in bed looking around. The room I reckon is quite well done and yet could be better. Beside the bed is a bedside table and lamp on one side and on the other is a fridge with a microwave and kettle on top along with all the bits and pieces, cups, teapot, teabags, biscuits etc. All of these things share one double socket. Looking around there is one other double socket in the whole room. My computer is plugged in there and the cable runs across the floor to the bed because the is no table to put it on. Ok not everybody's best friend is a laptop but you might have a hairdrier or want to plug a television in. At the end of the room opposite the window and past the two single beds is a space with a wardrobe, a chair, and a pine chest. Quite nice but this space is big enough to fit a whole kitchen in, or even an on suite bathroom, or just a writing desk. But no electrical sockets. It is not money. Sockets cost only pennies and you have an electrician already here wiring them up, it is not going to take much longer to put in a few more. It starts with the specifications and design. This place was designed as sheltered housing for old people, but really it is just the same as a hotel - compact apartments, sitting room, kitchen, bedrooms, bathroom storage and thats it. There will be slight differences to suit the older people, they nearly all have a zimmer frame and wheelchairs must be common but you know that before you start. It is all modular as well - each apartment is going to be the same so once you design one you have done them all. It is not lack of knowledge either - there are million of hotels out there, posh ones, basic ones, nice ones, horrible ones, all designed by somebody. Is it money then ? This is a private company so presumably makes a profit or at least breaks even, but saving a few pennies and ending up with something that works badly is losing sight of the whole reason for doing it in the first place.