ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Built Environ.
Sec. Urban Science
Building for Resilience: Insights from a Stockholm Nursing Care Facility Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
1. Department of Humanities, Faculty of Education and Business Studies, University of Gävle, Gävle, Sweden
2. Department of Computer Science and Civil Engineering, The University of Gävle, Sweden, Gävle, Sweden
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Abstract
This study investigates the COVID-19 response strategies of a senior housing facility in Sweden, Red Garden, which reported a notably low mortality rate during the pandemic's first wave. Using a single-case study design, the research draws on-site inspections, routine protocol documents, and a semi-structured interview with the facility manager. Thematic analysis reveals that effective containment at Red Garden resulted from a combination of spatial affordances, proactive leadership, embedded hygiene culture, and communication strategies. Importantly, the findings suggest that the successful implementation of national guidelines relied not only on knowledge and motivation, but on the physical and organizational capacity of the facility to act. This challenges the assumption that infection control strategies are universally transferable across eldercare settings. The study underscores the need for pandemic preparedness plans that address the environmental and managerial feasibility of implementation. While limited by its single-case design, this research highlights how spatial configuration and leadership dynamics can interact to shape resilience in long-term care environments.
Summary
Keywords
Building design, Communication strategies, COVID-19, Nursing care facility, Resource readiness, senior housing, Sweden, Zoning strategies
Received
09 November 2025
Accepted
18 February 2026
Copyright
© 2026 Bamzar and Iqbal. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Asifa Iqbal
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.