Projects
Willow Valley – The Vistas at Providence Park
Lancaster, PA
Willow Valley challenged the design team to envision an upscale apartment model that would reflect the community’s high standards for sophisticated spaces that would appeal to active adults. Supportive design was not to be obtained at the expense of a gracious sense of vitality.
The five-story apartment community occupies a prime hilltop location allowing for underground parking as well as commanding views toward the city of Lancaster on one side and surrounding farmland on the other side. The 53 luxury residences are spacious, light-filled apartment homes featuring oversized windows, fireplaces and built-in casework. Generous spaces for gathering and entertaining include a 360 degree rooftop terrace, dining room, library, community meeting rooms and a catering kitchen for residents to use for private parties.
Award: Senior Housing News, Architectural Design Awards, Independent Living Category Winner
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
Masonic Village at Lafayette Hill
Lafayette, Hill, PA
Renovations included updating the building’s original façade and adding a pergola for a more inviting entry experience and contemporary aesthetic for a consistent exterior vernacular for the community. The 96,000-square-foot addition resulted in 60 new apartment homes, bringing the total number of residences on the campus to 158.
Awards: Publication in Environments for Aging Design Showcase
Photography credit: 2015 Gregory Benson
Martins Run
Media, PA
To address the common challenges of aging stock and increasing vacancies, this provider chose to incrementally reinvent its apartments. Pocket doors, low-E windows and a myriad of other design details make the “not-so-big” units more appealing, senior-friendly and energy efficient. Exterior vertical mechanical units replace existing wall console units to allow for four-panel patio doors for more light and outdoor views. Removing interior walls from the galley kitchen creates an open floor plan that belies the small unit sizes. Although no new square footage was added, the transformation crates spacious, well-conceived residences that have been an unparalleled marketing success.
Awards: Exhibition and Publication in the AIA/LeadingAge Design for Aging Review
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography
The Osborn
Rye, NY
Multi-phased reinvention for the Osborn, beginning with an interiors master plan, encompassed individual residences and common spaces for multiple levels of care. The updates helped this provider transform outdated interiors and facilities, increase occupancy and resident satisfaction, and ultimately improve their financial standing.
Multi-phased Incremental Updates
Incremental updates to resident apartments in multiple buildings focused primarily on updating kitchen and bathroom spaces to meet consumer expectations and improve accessibility. Recognizing a growing need, the Osborn converted seven one bedroom apartments on the lower level of one of its buildings into a dedicated assisted living memory care neighborhood. Likewise, two smaller apartment units were combined to create a new upscale beauty shop requested by residents. Incremental improvements to dining venues, wellness areas, lobbies, corridors and other common areas have continued as part of the ongoing updates to provide contemporary appeal while maintaining the attention to detail and style befitting this historic community which originally opened in 1908.
Helping to Improve Financial Position
The updated interiors attracted new residents into previously hard-to-market spaces, which in turn enabled the provider to substantially increase occupancy and led to a more attractive investment grade rating. The better investment grade rating generated lower interest rates and substantial savings. The interest expense savings increased the provider’s debt capacity and provided the opportunity to issue new debt to finance additional renovation and repositioning projects.
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
Hybrid Homes at Landis Homes
Lititz, PA
“We knew we wanted a different type of residential housing that was higher density but wasn’t a typical apartment building. RLPS took that idea and development the hybrid homes.”
Linford Good, Vice President of Planning Marketing
This new neighborhood of hybrid homes™ was developed in three phases of two buildings each. Phase I included 25 residences and earned LEED Gold Certification. Phases 2 and 3 were designed to the same standards but were not registered for formal recognition. Each building includes up to 13 individual residences, a hearth room on each floor, ground floor community room and service areas.
Hybrid Homes™ Combine the Best Features of Apartments and Cottage Homes
The hybrid homes™ provide a new seniors’ housing option, blending the benefits of both cottage and apartment living to provide an intentional community that can be tailored to special interests, educational development or economic need. Multiple exposures, sheltered parking, outdoor living and an absence of corridors are among the cottage-like benefits. Apartment-like features include indoor access to common and service areas and opportunities for social connections in a multi-story building which requires less site area. Hybrid homes foster a sense of community between occupants of up to 13 homes per household with shared living areas including a hearth room on each floor, community room and service areas.
Sustainable Design Features
The hybrid homes™ provide a more compact footprint than traditional patio homes to preserve open space. Under-building resident parking reduces surface parking lots and the associated heat island effects. A geothermal mechanical system, high performance windows and increased insulation are projected to help the project achieve 48.6% higher efficiency than ASHRAE base models. Ultra low-flow fixtures and rainwater harvesting for non-potable uses will be used to increase water efficiency. A legacy stormwater management initiative is restoring campus stream channels and adjacent floodplains to historical elevations and locations to ultimately improve groundwater filtration and recharge.
Learn More About Hybrid HomesAwards: Citation Award for AIA/LeadingAge Design for Aging Review, Honorable Mention Award – Design Environments for Aging, NAHB Best of 50+ Housing Council – Gold Achievement Award / Innovation Award, LEED Gold Certification
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography
Longwood at Oakmont
Verona, PA
This LEED Silver Certified apartment building and clubhouse project is positioned on a hillside with views of Pittsburgh and the Oakmont Country Club. The clubhouse provides varied dining options including a bistro with display kitchen, formal dining with terrace seating, hearthside dining and a lounge area. The apartment building includes a fitness room, creative arts studio and multi-purpose rooms. This LEED Silver Certified apartment building and clubhouse project is positioned on a hillside with views of Pittsburgh and the Oakmont Country Club. The clubhouse provides varied dining options including a bistro with display kitchen, formal dining with terrace seating, hearthside dining and a lounge area. The apartment building includes a fitness room, creative arts studio and multi-purpose rooms.
Awards: LEED for Homes Silver Certification
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography
Tel Hai Community, StoneCroft Apartments
Honey Brook, PA
Master planning for a hilltop parcel adjacent to the existing community resulted in the StoneCroft neighborhood of 105 apartments and community center spaces including casual dining with display kitchen, a 450-seat multi-purpose room for cultural performances, worship services, conferences and banquets and a wellness center. The competition-size pool is also used by the Twin Valley Aquatic Club and High School swimming teams. The pool features six lanes equipped with starting blocks, a timing/scoring system and two levels of spectator seating. Master planning for a hilltop parcel adjacent to the existing community resulted in the StoneCroft neighborhood of 105 apartments and community center spaces including casual dining with display kitchen, a 450-seat multi-purpose room for cultural performances, worship services, conferences and banquets and a wellness center. The competition-size pool is also used by the Twin Valley Aquatic Club and High School swimming teams. The pool features six lanes equipped with starting blocks, a timing/scoring system and two levels of spectator seating.
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
Givens Estates Creekside Hybrid Homes
Asheville, NC
This multi-phased hybrid homes™ project allowed Givens Estates to incrementally replace outdated villa housing with a new independent living model. Each household has 12 residences with a shared social space on the first floor. The four-story hybrid households take advantage of the sloped site to provide parking on the lower level while maintaining a three-story facade with an inviting front porch on the street side.
Learn More About Hybrid HomesAwards: Citation, Exhibition and Publication in AIA/LeadingAge Design for Aging Review
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography; Third image courtesy of Landmark Builders
Bishop Gadsden, The Quay Hybrid Homes
Charleston, SC
This new independent living model reflects the community standards for gracious southern living while making the best use of 12 acres of acquired property. The Quay is a distinctive collection of 45 hybrid home™ flats with open floor plans ranging from 1,773 to 2,150 square feet. The three buildings are constructed around a lake, with walkways, a pavilion, pedestrian bridge, and extensive natural landscaping. Parking is provided on the ground floor. Five flats on each upper floor are arranged around a gallery space.
Learn More About Hybrid HomesAwards: Publication in Environments for Aging Design Showcase
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
Rose Villa
Portland, OR
Master planning resulted in multi-phased campus updates and replacement housing. Phase 1 encompassed 76 “pocket neighborhood” cottages and loft-style apartments over new town center spaces. Main Street amenities, many of which are open to the surrounding community, include a bistro, coffee shop, garden center, art studio, wellness center and auditorium. New assisted living, replacement healthcare, children’s daycare, and additional pocket neighborhoods are anticipated for later phases.
Addressing the Steep Site with Appealing Pocket Neighborhoods
This senior living community, originally opened in 1960, was known for its lush landscaping and relaxed garden lifestyle. Its existing linear, one-story garden apartments had become dated and the steep 22-acre hillside site was challenging for older adults to navigate. The gradual replacement of all 263 residences began with the first phase of pocket neighborhoods.
These cottage-style active adult residences are organized around gardens stepping down the hillside. Each pocket neighborhood is comprised of seven homes overlooking an intimate courtyard. The result creates smaller, pedestrian-friendly neighborhoods which capitalize on garden connections and outdoor views. The “over-under” cottages in each pocket neighborhood maximize site utilization while providing compact floor plans that are sized to be affordable, yet maintain open and livable spaces with appealing views in multiple directions.
Connecting with the Surrounding Community Through New Main Street Amenities
The pocket neighborhoods transition up to a new Main Street and Town Center with amenity spaces at street level and loft apartment living on the upper levels. The loft apartments provide a residential option for consumers who prefer “downtown” living with interior connection to common spaces. Situated at the highest point of the site overlooking the Willamette River, Main Street provides a unique and appealing first impression of the campus, as well as reinforcing a sense of place within the larger community.
To provide a true downtown ambience, the street level amenities, such as the bistro and garden center, are directly accessible from both the street and internal corridors. A wine bar is envisioned for the rooftop garden overlooking Main Street and providing views to the river. With the completion of the first phase of updates, Rose Villa provides an appealing, accessible garden setting, as the community was originally conceived.
Awards: Award of Merit, AIA/LeadingAge Design for Aging Review, | Honorable Mention – Independent Living; Senior Housing News Design Awards | Merit Award in the Environments for Aging Design Showcase
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography, Steve Wanke Photography
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