These Brooklyn Architects Are Reinventing Design for the Elderly — With Covetable Grab Bars and Pill Boxes

Getting older comes with the challenge of adapting your home to your shifting needs — whether that be installing a chairlift or bathroom and bed rails that can assist in navigating rooms more comfortably.

But if you, like Brooklyn-based architects Spencer Fried and Sam Zeif, were lucky enough to grow up around multiple generations of family, you will also be aware of the sense of shame these items can bring into the elders' life. That's why, the two designers have launched luxury home brand Remsen — "to craft beautiful premium products that address a market often overlooked by the design industry."

"We saw how disappointing the products our elders needed and used every day were," Fried and Zeif tell us. But it was only during the pandemic, when both architects were living with older family members, that these experiences came to a head, prompting the birth of Remsen. "We witnessed the way our loved ones felt about themselves when they had to pull out their bulky walker or add a plastic, obtrusive grab bar to their beautifully designed bathroom," explain the co-founders, adding that, rather than making them feel proud of their age, those items, and their seeming incompatibility with modern interior design, made them feel inadequate. "As architects, we saw an opportunity to re-envision these products as beautiful, aspirational design pieces our loved ones would actually want to use."

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In their mission to beautify the entrapments of the aging home, Fried and Zeif have conceived elevated designs — which include a playing card set complete with holder, a pill container, and a grab bar, shower chair, key-turn, and cane — made from luxury materials and stunningly-crafted finishes that not only make aging more enjoyable, but also desirable. "We believe aging is a gift and we wanted to reframe the conversation around aging and ableness by introducing products that people can be happy to have in their homes," the duo explain. If the "cheap, pessimistic" items available on the market treat senior wellness accessories as medical devices at the expense of aesthetics, Remsen proves that our sense of style doesn't vanish with age through offerings which strive to "reflect and complement that".

The senior home isn't the only branch of the design world to suffer from a lack of inventive and beautifully envisioned items, as characterless furnishings sadly continue to dominate the accessible design scene more broadly, with a few, inspiring exceptions. While having to stick to ADA-compliant requirements might reduce brands' freedom, Fried and Zeif believe that aging homeware is lacking the attention given to other design elements. "Why should a grab bar be any less luxurious and aesthetically pleasing than a beautiful cabinet pull or vanity?" they ask. "Our goal was to create pieces that improve people’s daily lives, fit seamlessly within an interior design vision, and bring more joy to those who use them."

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Convinced that the functionality of an object should never overshadow its beauty, Fried and Zeif consulted their elderly family and friends to identify the items most urgently in need of a design treatment, coming up with alternatives that married both. From a flimsy plastic shower chair and a cheap pill box to an obtrusive grab bar added into a bathroom as an afterthought, the Remsen co-founders knew they could do better, which is why they launched the label with their Pill Container and Grab Bar; two items "that are simultaneously compelling visual statements and products that enhance well-being".

With the rest of the line landing in the near future, the architect duo are already busy researching a whole "wish list" of products they'd love to redesign — encompassing anything from home goods to recreational accessories and more. "They're all pieces that exist today but have not been designed as something you want just as much as you need," say Fried and Zeif. "We see such great opportunity on the horizon."

Discover a selection of Remsen's wellness accessories below, or head to their website to browse the full collection.

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