Age-Friendly Interiors in Practice: Evaluating Spatial Responsiveness through a Delphi-Informed Design Audit

Objectives This study develops and applies a Delphi-informed environmental audit framework to examine spatial responsiveness in community-based day centers for older adults. Background Daytime socialization spaces play an important role in supporting mobility, orientation, and psychosocial well-being in later life. Although international frameworks such as WHO Age-Friendly Cities, Universal Design, and NICE provide environmental guidance, structured evaluation tools for non-clinical community settings remain limited. Methods A three-round Delphi process involving experts in architecture, interior design, and gerontology refined an 18-item checklist organized into three macro domains and five subdomains addressing accessibility, environmental quality, safety, and supportive spatial features. The framework was applied to eight municipally operated day centers in Turkey. Group comparisons were conducted using non-parametric statistical tests, and visual-comparative synthesis incorporated photographic documentation. Results Item-level differences were identified in selected safety-critical and perceptual dimensions, including flooring safety, color contrast, and handrail provision ( p < 0.05). No significant differences were observed in total checklist scores, suggesting comparable baseline performance across facility types. Configurational analysis indicated greater spatial compactness and clearer entrance articulation in Type 1 centers, whereas more fragmented layouts in Type 2 centers may increase orientation demands. Conclusions Findings suggest that spatial responsiveness in community day centers extends beyond basic accessibility compliance to the coherent integration of sensory, safety-related, and circulation cues. Given the limited sample size and single-city context, results should be interpreted as exploratory. The Delphi-informed framework demonstrates practical applicability; however, broader multi-site validation and integration of user-reported outcomes are needed to strengthen generalizability.