Threshold to the City Part 2 Project 2011 Jamie Hanson Sheffield Hallam University | UK An ever-increasing responsibility of Architects and Urban Designers is to consider the implications of our ageing society. The age structure of our society is changing and in 2001 the UK census has shown a steady growth of people over the age of 65, which has overtaken the population of our children. Even more significant is the statistic that an increasing amount of thepopulation is reaching the age of 85 and above. With this comes an inevitable change in physical and mental health, the most significant of these being the decline of the brain and it’s abilities caused by dementia.The building design provides varying environments that respond to the changeable requirements of its users. All aspects of the buildings environment have been designed to be ‘dementiafriendly’ spaces. These spaces are adaptive but also meaningful places that relate to one another and are comfortable in scale and experience. The spaces within the project support the occupational therapy required as part of the provision for the care of people with dementia and provide opportunities where dementia and non-dementia users can integrate through the activity.The thesis project looks to highlight the increased risk of dementia on our elderly society while aspiring to manifest the culture and diversity of the city into a civic proposal that facilitates the desire for knowledge and information. The programme will integrate into the existing urban context of the city, providing an inclusive amenity for the integration of dementia and nondementia users. The project is to implement a provision for community and lifelong learning providing open access to information and knowledge for both dementia and non-dementia users through thresholds within the programme. It is hoped that this will inform our society of dementia by delivering an awareness of the disease, integrating people with dementia in socialscenarios and reducing the stigma that the disease has sadly acquired. Jamie Hanson Tutor(s)Prof Sam Vardy