A Bit About Space and Design, with Kelly Tremblay

How can senior living environments support brain health, preserve identity, and help residents feel at home? In this episode of Brain Bytes, Kelly talks with Sandi Soraci, director of senior living strategies for Tarkett North America, about how thoughtful design can do more than meet safety and functional needs. Kelly and Sandi explain how the built environment can reduce cognitive and sensory demands, support independence, and create opportunities for meaningful connection. The conversation explores the power of "sticky spaces," comfortable places along residents' everyday paths where spontaneous interactions can happen naturally, and how glare, visual patterns, background noise, and competing conversations can increase cognitive load and fatigue. Looking ahead, Sandi makes the case for treating belonging as an intentional design outcome and extending cognitive-supportive design beyond memory care into independent and assisted living. The challenge for the industry is to connect design investments to measurable outcomes, including resident satisfaction, caregiver experience, family confidence, occupancy, and operational efficiency. For more information on Tarkett: https://commercial.tarkett.com/