Projects
Landis Homes – Learning & Wellness Center and Crossings Apartments
Lititz, PA
Constructed front and center on an existing campus, these senior living apartments and community center connect lifelong learning, holistic wellness and vibrant community.
Community Front Door for Lifelong Learning and Wellness
Located in the heart of campus and visible from the adjacent roadway, the new Learning and Wellness Center fills the need for a community front door. Designed to be a bustling center of activity where connections flourish, the main floor houses a bistro and lounge, art gallery, salon and spa, business center, bank, pharmacy, and auditorium to support the community’s Pathways Institute for Lifelong Learning® classes and other educational and entertainment programs. Spiritual wellness is encouraged in The Quiet Place, a series of small rooms for meditation. The new center also allowed for a consolidation of administrative offices into one central location.
Fitness Spaces
Fitness spaces are located on the ground floor with both internal access and a separate entrance for residents walking, biking or driving from other parts of campus. This area includes a four-lane lap and therapy pool and a spa pool with natural lighting, a state-of-the-art cardio and strength training room with equipment designed for an active aging population and a wellness studio to support group classes.
Crossings Apartments
The Crossings Apartments replaced older single homes with higher density housing that reflects current consumer demands. These new residences provide an indoor connection to community amenities and feature a mix of one bedroom plus den, two bedroom and two bedroom plus den apartments ranging from 1,253 to 1,569 square feet. Open floor plans, natural light and abundant storage were the priorities for these residences. Each apartment also includes one under-building covered parking space.
Community Connections
This project also includes an interior pedestrian bridge over the driveway to provide an interior connection to this campus hub. Residents, team members and visitors are able to walk under cover from the Health Care and Personal Care houses, through The Crossings and the Learning & Wellness Center, and all the way to the apartments on the west side of the community. President/CEO Larry Zook shared that bringing the different parts of campus together under one roof was something residents and team members have dreamed of for many years.
Learn more about Wellness
Penick Village – Parkview Hybrid Homes
Southern Pines, NC
Higher density replacement housing
The Parkview replaces aging existing cottages with a desirable higher density independent living option. Each three-story, 17-residence hybrid home is made up of units ranging from 600 to 1600 square feet. The balconies for individual residences are carefully positioned to maintain privacy and views. Parking is provided on the ground floor which also includes two moderately priced efficiency apartment options. Sitting areas on the residential floors provide additional spaces for casual interactions.
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Pleasant View Communities – Hearth and Harrow
Manheim, PA
Bring In Outside Community
Renovation of a former café created Health and Harrow—a restaurant, private dining room, bistro, coffee bar, and outdoor patio—to enhance campus life and help to bring the outside community into Pleasant View. This not only provides an additional dining venue for a town that has limited restaurant options, but the extra income also helps to maintain – and even increase – Pleasant View’s benevolence to its residents.
Outdoor Connections
Large storefront windows replace bay windows and a rarely used vestibule just off the patio has been repurposed as two dining alcoves in the front of the bistro. Outdoor connections are highlighted with expanded windows, many with sills less than a foot above the ground, patio dining with a variety of seating options, and a renovated fountain featuring work by a local sculptor.
Farm-to-Table
Hearth and Harrow highlights its local agrarian setting via hand-cut local tiles, local art, textured glass panels from a local glass supplier, reclaimed barn wood, and Edison bulbs inspired by nearby family farms. The name highlights the signature hearth feature and connects back to Pleasant View’s heritage of the family farm reflecting an operational goal to partner with local, Lancaster County food vendors and bring the Farm-to-Table movement to the community.
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
Warwick Woodlands, a Moravian Manor Community
Lititz, PA
Pedestrian Friendly, Varied Housing Options for Satellite Community
Since its founding, Moravian Manor has operated under the premise of blending seamlessly into the surrounding town rather than creating its own insular community. The downtown location became a challenge as the community has thrived and needed room to grow. The purchase of a nearby 72 acre property paved the way for the Warwick Woodlands satellite community.
Traditional Neighborhood Development
The design of Warwick Woodlands reflects Traditional Neighborhood Development (TND) principles that respond to consumer preferences for an interconnected community—engaging rather than isolating residents from the existing townscape.
Key features are varied types of housing, courtyards and public spaces, and a network of pedestrian-friendly streets and sidewalks. The first phase included ten freestanding two-story townhomes, 70 duplex carriage homes, and The Woods Building comprised of 56 apartments, bistro, lounge and game room.
Community Connections
The limited on-site amenities reflect the intention that the active adult residents will avail themselves of the many resources nearby. Membership to the Lititz Recreation Center is included in the monthly fee and everything else, such as dining and housecleaning, is a la carte so that residents choose the services that fit their lifestyle.
The goal of strengthening connections to the town rather than creating an inward-focused campus resulted in the bistro being open to the public for all meals, as well as design measures to integrate the community into the existing context.
To blend into the borough neighborhood, the new satellite community features minimal signage beyond the required street signs and provides direct connections to the Lititz borough streets and sidewalk network. The Woods apartments building façade creates a design aesthetic of interconnected buildings along the streetscape. Landscaped medians further enhance the main street while aiding in traffic calming since the final phase will connect two major arteries running through the town. These measures were a major “selling point” in the Borough’s acceptance of several zoning variances including allowances for higher density residential models.
Consumer-Friendly Design Details
The diverse housing mix has no duplicate materials combinations among the 80 residences. Residents living in the apartments have access to under-building parking and a rooftop amenity added late in the design process to enhance pre-sales initiatives. The resulting flat roof area nestles between two gables at the main street for views in multiple directions. Mechanical equipment screening acknowledges that there is no “back door” for the building. Phase 2 additional housing is currently under construction and continues the initial premise of integrating the homes into the surrounding townscape.
Award: Senior Housing News Architecture and Design Awards Winner, Independent Living
Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
The Villas at RiverMead Hybrid Homes
The Villas at RiverMead provide a new hybrid homes™ option that complements the existing cottages and apartments. Taking advantage of the site contours so that the parking level is tucked into the hillside, the four-story hybrid buildings reinforce the residential scale of the campus.
The two buildings include 12 corner villas, four on each floor. Each villa, with its open-concept design and corner orientation, is thoughtfully planned for maximum flow and light. Other features include fireplaces, walk-in closets, laundry rooms and open kitchens. A modest gathering area is included on each floor to provide opportunities for social connections among residents.
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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
Arbor Acres Houses on Bayberry
Winston-Salem, NC
This pocket neighborhood is being inserted near the center of the campus over several phases of construction. The goal of the project is to meet or exceed current design standards and market expectations while maintaining a relatively small footprint. The one and two-bedroom units are approximately 1,000 SF and 1,100 SF respectively and are designed to provide an economical independent housing option. Despite their small size, the houses deliver handicap accessibility, sheltering porches, adjacent parking, cathedral ceilings with dormer lighting, shared garden spaces and covered connections to common areas. It all works to promote a sense of community.
Awards: Exhibition and Publication in the AIA/LeadingAge Design for Aging Review
Photo Credit: Larry Lefever Photography