Environmental gerontology is a burgeoning field within the ageing discourse, contributing to an understanding of the spatial and material aspects of later life and manifest through concepts such as age-friendly cities, global ageing and housing and identity (Peace et al 2006; Buffel et al 2018). In recent years the demographic imperative has awoken interest from a multitude of other disciplines and practices, such as architecture, to come to the party with different perspectives and lenses through which to view an ageing society. This book captures that new excitement of discovering a fresh area of study blending gerontology and architecture together to explore a particular environment – that of retirement housing. Inside Retirement Housing is a timely and much-needed book. The critical importance of an interdisciplinary view in the spatial aspects of ageing comes across strongly in the book, not only from a ‘macro’ (age-friendly city) approach but also the ‘micro’ approach of how to design the housing in which we live.

This is not your usual gerontological textbook or monograph. Inside Retirement Housing is an apt title for a work that gets under the skin of later life living. It provides an understanding of the issues through a different stakeholder lens – Clark’s ‘cast of actors’ (architect, developer, planner and so on) – reflecting different paradigms and approaches (including creative practice research) and conveying an intricate mix of values one might associate with co-design. The book takes us into the lived experience of various actors as they tell their story and concludes with reflections from the researcher himself. This is its appeal – challenging our conceptualisation of ageing (of what it means to age in place) by introducing gerontologists to novel methods and reflections on design. It is original in that it approaches later life housing from a design perspective, while bringing forth user or ‘actor’ views expressed through storytelling and autobiographical reflection, including previously unheard voices of one commercial company’s staff and their side(s) of the story, to help navigate the retirement-living landscape.

Design is an increasingly key feature in gerontology. The UK Research and Innovation (UKRI)-funded Healthy Ageing Challenge programme of research has design as central (UKRI, 2022); recognition that it can help address some of the complex social care and housing issues that exist and contribute to improving the lives of older people.