Projects

Piper Shores – The Meadows

Scarborough, ME

Piper Shores set out to create a unique independent living satellite community within sight of their main Oceanside Campus. It is differentiated not only geographically on a non-adjacent site, but with a unique aesthetic, feel, and programming. The Meadows provides a new option for older adults who want the benefits of living in a community of other seniors, but who aren’t ready to move onto a traditional Life Plan Community campus.

The variety of living options includes 8 single-family Estate Homes, 16 duplex Cottage Homes, and 28 hybrid Apartment Homes, supported by curated amenity spaces.  The hybrid apartment building offers a residential option connected to the common spaces, giving residents access to program space without going outdoors during the harsh Maine winters. Amenities include dining, fitness, theater, meeting space, and a clinic creating a standalone community. At the same time, additional services and higher levels of care are available across the street at Oceanside when needed.

Natural Connections

The rolling meadow, surrounded by native New England forest, within sight of the Atlantic Ocean coastline, creates an unmatched environment to live and thrive. To preserve the site’s natural charm, most residences are single-story and follow the site’s topography. The four-story hybrid and common building is tucked into the grade to maximize how much of the site could remain open meadow.

Connections to nature were maintained by including transparency wherever possible. Within each of the buildings, large storefront and corner windows are employed to feature breathtaking views of these natural surroundings through all four seasons. When you enter the common building through the front door you can see directly through the building to the meadow beyond. Corridors don’t end with a blank wall. Instead, they end with a wall of windows providing views of the surrounding forest or meadows.

While some walking paths already existed on the site, a goal was to introduce more to provide opportunities for movement, exercise, and connection. Walking trails were extended to connect the Meadows with trails leading to nearby Higgins Beach as well as a youth summer/after school camp.

Local Connections

The shingle-style building exteriors echo the familiar local New England building materials but with a simplified contemporary feel created by flat roofs and storefront and corner windows. This local connection is continued inside with the bold natural color and finish palette highlighted with art featuring contemporary landscapes by local artist Caren-Marie Michel, in prominent spaces on each floor of the commons apartment building.

The interiors reflect a distinct hospitality aesthetic desired by the owner and residents but also keep the spaces feeling homelike. This was done by keeping the commons at a smaller scale, employing cathedral or 2-story ceilings in public and main living spaces while keeping the ceilings at a lower 8′-8″ residential scale in more personal spaces.

Photo Credits: Nathan Cox Photography

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Messiah Lifeways – Bailey Street Apartments

Converting Personal Care to Middle Market Apartments

Bailey Street Apartments respond to common challenges senior living sponsors are facing—rightsizing community census and extending services to the middle market.  This small project makes a big impact by transforming a decommissioned personal care neighborhood that has not been in use since 2020.

Bailey Street is a small neighborhood of 13 rental apartments. A controlling factor when considering which units could be combined was the imperative to maintain existing plumbing locations to help keep project costs down. The design result is 11 one-bedroom units ranging from 478 to 551 square feet.  There is also an 826 square foot two-bedroom and one 260 square foot studio apartment.

Residents have the option of a typical entrance fee plan or a pilot, “Asset Preservation Plan,” a higher monthly fee plan that embeds the entrance fee in the monthly cost for individuals with more limited assets.  Both options allow residents to have access to the full continuum of care offered by Messiah Lifeways.

Middle Market Residences

Working entirely “inside the box,” the design team created open floor plans to make “not-so-big” living spaces comfortable, accessible and market-friendly.  Wood-pattern luxury vinyl plank was used throughout the apartments to increase the perceived scale and provide a durable and stylish finish. The kitchen layouts were carefully considered to respond to consumer expectations for full-size equipment and storage. The bathroom showers help to save space while enhancing accessibility.

Common Spaces

Due to the modest square footage of the apartments and to promote a sense of community among the residents, Bailey Street has shared living spaces including a large great room. The kitchen and oversized island promote casual daily interactions as residents gather for shared or individual meal preparations. We maintained, but updated, features such as built-in casework and a fireplace. The ground floor location is also convenient for residents living in other areas of the campus to access the new media room and multi-purpose venue.

Givens Estates – Friendship Park Apartments

Asheville, NC

This 125,569 square foot, senior living apartment expansion replaces lower density housing. Constructed in two phases, the buildings work with the topography to increase density and integrate a stream running between them.  Targeting 55+ residents, the 80 apartments enjoy wooded views from oversized balconies or walk-out patios. A series of covered bridges and walkways connect the new structures to the community center and other campus amenities.

Letting the Terrain Guide the Senior Living Apartment Expansion

The design utilizes the steep site, with the buildings nestled along an ambling spring-fed stream. The topography dictated two separate apartment buildings that are each segmented at the core with an interior bridge connecting the two halves.  This “elbow” maximizes the number of corner units and allows the buildings to transition in tandem with the stream that winds down the hillside.  Each building also includes a pavilion for extended socialization between apartment residents.

Being “polite to the site” was the guiding principle for this apartment expansion. Design and construction focused on integrating environmentally-friendly practices and elevating the natural setting.

A 60-foot buffer of naturally occurring trees and plant life protects and frames the stream flowing through the middle of the Friendship Park neighborhood. There is a 40 foot elevation change between the campus loop road and steam. The buildings, walkways and landscape design address this in a way that improves access alongside the stream.

Givens Estates Friendship Park apartment expansion features mountain modern style Creating a Market-Friendly Modern-Mountain Style Expansion

The park-like, wooded setting led the design team to embrace a contemporary version of Arts & Crafts architecture.  Evocative of a treehouse, the façade for the apartment expansion has visually expressive heavy timber structures. They are painted a deep brick red that frame covered porch-style balconies and patios.

The new, upscale apartment residences feature open floor plans. Designed to complement rather than duplicate other campus housing, these apartments range in size from 800 to 1400 square feet.  Outdoor patios and balconies are generously sized. The many corner apartments feature large windows to take advantage of the multi-directional views.

 

Phoebe Berks – Grant Harrity Community Center

Wernersville, PA

What began as a master planning project has resulted in the reinvention of the community center at Phoebe Berks. The new distinguished, yet down to earth atmosphere reflects their holistic wellness program.

Mind Body Spirit Food

The Mind Body Spirit Food wellness lifestyle program supports Phoebe’s holistic view integrating the “whole person” into everything they do. This encourages residents to look at their futures with eagerness by providing the tools and person-specific life-enrichment plans for each resident. Fitness spaces, multi-purpose space with stage, theater, library, and multiple dining venues are specifically designed and programmed to support this lifestyle initiative.

Chef placing pizza in pizza oven Reorganized Spaces

The reimagined community center includes a comfortable open seating area inside the front door that features a coffee shop with grab-and-go snacks and light meals adjacent to the library with a variety of seating for the ultimate coffee shop experience. This lobby space was formerly dominated by a large “command station” desk with a dining space behind gates.

The former main dining room has become a variety of complementary venues including the casual Bistro 422 featuring a pizza oven and plenty of seating for family and friends. The new outdoor dining patio is popular in temperate weather while the Belle Alto formal dining is available for more traditional served meals. The all-new pub is an active pre-dinner space connected to the bistro and adjacent to the popular game room.

Flexible Spaces

The reorganization of space allows one kitchen to serve multiple venues. This adjacency also allows for flexible, gently screened dining spaces that can adjust as needed.

Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography

Landis Place on King

Lancaster, PA

This 55+ rental community in the heart of downtown Lancaster, Pennsylvania provides much-needed middle-income housing for older adults. The satellite community is designed for older adults who wish to remain in an urban setting and take advantage of the surrounding city’s resources.

The mixed-use building houses 79 apartments, under-building parking and third-party commercial space. Replacing two non-descript, aged buildings, Landis Place on King will help keep the city’s central business district vibrant and growing.

Meeting the Need for Middle Market Senior Housing

In-house services are limited to reduce needed staff and operational costs, while encouraging residents to remain engaged in the greater community. To avoid excavation and rock removal costs, the building design placed the structure on top of the site.  Lower areas of the property were then infilled. The simple building form is complemented by glass expanses on the public-facing street facade.  Repetitive elements allow for panelized construction. Simple stacking methodologies are used to keep the building cost effective.  Nearly all of the MEP units are vertically stacked for efficient distribution.

To fill a local middle market housing gap, 42% of the apartments are priced for those with income below the county median.   A Capital Campaign will help maintain 10% of apartments with rates that remain affordable for those at the lower end for the region

Creating Appealing Apartments in a Mixed-Use Urban Setting

Expected to accommodate 100+ residents, the seven-story building has one- and two-bedroom loft-style apartments. It also includes 1,800 square feet of retail shell space (slated to open as Rendezvous Pizzeria & Steak Shop, and 1,400 square feet of office space. The apartments, ranging in size from 739 to 1,209 square feet, deliver open and accessible floor plans, covered parking and a mix of communal areas.  Even the smallest units include eat-in kitchens, balconies, walk-in closets and washers/dryers.

Common spaces include elevator lobby/gathering rooms on three floors, a fitness room, and a community room on the top floor. This space opens up to a rooftop terrace with expansive city views. The parking garage roof creates a second floor patio and outdoor green space overlooking the street.

Visit the Landis Place on King website to schedule a tour, see apartment floor plans, request a brochure or learn more about this new 55+ mixed use residence in downtown Lancaster.

 

The Village at Gainesville – SantaFe Senior Living

Gainesville, FL

Located in Florida, The Village at Gainesville is a senior living community looking to plan for their future. They offer a choice of senior living residences as well as assisted living and memory care. Master planning goals included adding 100+ independent living residences in multiple phases, replacing small apartment units and consolidating memory care into a new state of the art assisted living and assisted living memory care building. It was also important to work around legacy trees and preserved land as the master plan developed.

Stakeholder Engagement in Master Planning

Current residents, prospective residents, board members, and The Village at Gainesville leadership participated in a mix of in person focus groups and online surveys that provided valuable input regarding the future of the community. Several reoccurring themes impacted master planning such as respect for the campus’s natural surroundings, opportunities to strengthen the campus culture, wanting stronger connections with both a nearby college and a university, and the desire for more on-campus services.

Master Plan Results

The final plan takes a phased approach that expands the housing and amenities on campus and creates new assisted living and assisted living memory care residences while maintaining the natural beauty and outdoor character of the existing community.

Bishop Gadsden – The Gadsden Glen Center for Health and Rehab

Charleston, SC

In a world where most communities are downsizing healthcare, Gadsden Glen reflects Bishop Gadsden’s commitment to excellence throughout the continuum of senior care. Every design decision centered on enhancing the day-to-day resident, staff and family experiences while upholding their mission to provide exceptional care and service.

Gracious Senior Care ResidencesSenior Housing News Awards - Skilled Nursing Winner

The entry lobby features a two-story library and sitting area with grand fireplace, large skylight, grand piano, locally commissioned painting and glass sculptures which are symbolic of the guiding design themes for the project. The adjacent cheerful bistro and curated gift shop offers refreshments to all while also functioning as a social hub to promote a sense of community.

Intimate dining rooms are serviced by the central kitchen, designed specifically to maintain Bishop Gadsden’s culinary excellence. The large rehab gym features vaulted ceilings, large windows for ample natural light, and commissioned art. The adjacent wellness gym is available for community use.

Resident rooms were designed around multiple large-scale windows keeping the interior sunny and featuring views of old growth oak trees. Senior care neighborhoods are connected by unique engaging courtyards, accessible through screened porches. Memory care neighborhoods can be entered via the main building entrance or through their own residential-scale vestibule directly from the parking lot.

Design Strategies to Supports Staffing Recruitment and Retention

A highlight of Gadsden Glen is the spacious, light-filled staff lounge. It provides a place of comfort, community, and respite for staff. A wide range of seating, plenty of TVs, power outlets and lockers are included. Toilet and shower rooms are available as well as a dedicated room for lactating persons. Owner-inspired motivational graphics grace feature walls.

Staff members can order meals via a smartphone app and pick up their selections in the lounge. A dedicated food service station includes complimentary beverages, self-serve kitchenette, and vending machines.

Mock-ups of resident rooms and bathrooms were created during design so staff members could help fine-tune the design. Considerations such as toilet locations, lift access, and bed size were debated and tested. The Bishop Gadsden nursing care leadership team provide input, such as how a lift would enter and be maneuvered within the resident room. They also tested sample beds before purchase. Each staff work area was designed around detailed program information to ensure spaces support and enhance daily staff functions. The staff lounge was also created to help alleviate hesitancy of staff to move to a new building.

Read our Interior Design Case Study

 

Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography

Three Pillars Senior Living Communities

Dousman, WI

Master planning for Three Pillars Senior Living Communities, founded in 1905, explored opportunities for multi-generational appeal. Residential options will be expanded in multiple phases to provide more diverse lifestyle offerings to both senior and non-senior users. The design is a diverse, walkable, intergenerational village. The master plan incorporates elements of new urbanism, mixed‐use design and intentional placemaking.

Multiple stakeholder groups were engaged in master planning for Three Pillars through focus group and an on-site design charrette. Engaging Stakeholders in Master Planning for Intergenerational Appeal

Focus groups with residents, waitlist members, community members and Dousman representatives provided valuable input regarding resources and amenities to serve local residents of all ages such as a child daycare and workforce housing.  Connections will be fostered through shared living experiences—whether dining at the uniquely Wisconsin “supper club,” gardening in the adjacent agrihood or participating in events, like a pop-up farmer’s market, on the Center Green

Master Planning Principles for Multi-Phased Implementation

Master planning concepts for Three Pillars’ expansion were tested against guiding principles:

  • Greater Community Focus:  the expansion faces outward rather than focusing inward. New residences and gathering spaces are visible from the street. Each amenity space—the bistro, maker space, fitness, performing arts, pub, salon,  etc.—has its own door from the Main Street.
  • Education Focus:  community additions position Three Pillars as an educational resource for campus residents and the greater community. A new Community Resource Center is focused on supporting people living with dementia while settings such as the performance space, maker spaces and garden agrihood provide lifelong learning and personal development opportunities.
  • Nature Focus:  focus groups identified a strong affinity for the natural beauty of the campus. The expansion extends existing walking trails and improves river access for kayaking or passive enjoyment. The undeveloped portion of the expansion parcel will continue as farmland for intentional stewardship of the property.
  • Placemaking Focus:  Three existing historic, stone structures have been elevated to a central position on the new town square.  Rehabilitating these buildings reflects a respect for the community legacy while defining the next generation of campus life.

Continued Evolution of Dementia-Capable Spaces

An essential component of the master plan was supporting Three Pillars’ commitment to maintaining a dementia-capable community. Along with creating new residential small houses, the master plan calls for a Community Resource Center to serve as an asset for Southeastern Wisconsin lake country. The center will provide targeted support for campus residents and community members living with dementia and their families.

Meadowood – McLean Memory Care

Worcester, PA

Paired Memory Support Small Houses Focused on Courtyard Gardens

The McLean Memory Care design is based on global research indicating that people living with dementia who are exposed to gardens and natural light have improved moods and slower progression of symptoms. The design and provider teams collaborated to combine a biophilic design focus with outcomes-focused programming and technology resources. The McLean center is designed to foster positive life experiences and authentic interactions for people living with dementia.

Nature Connections for Orientation and Cueing

The memory care residence positions 18 single and 2 companion rooms around two internal courtyards. Resident rooms face the courtyards to assist with wayfinding and encourage exploration.

The courtyards create multi-directional exposure to daylight within interior spaces. This promotes natural orientation to time of day and seasons and eliminates the need for artificial circadian lighting. These outdoor rooms become an extension of the residence, while infusing interior spaces with daylight. The vibrant, diversely programmed courtyards accommodate both active and passive engagement in barrier-free outdoor areas.

Meadowood Senior Living's memory support small house includes a greenhouse where residents can garden any time of the year.
The greenhouse is a unique amenity that encourages residents to dig in the dirt any time of the year. It also provides direct access to the garden courtyard with planters at different heights for standing or sitting in a wheelchair.

A Memory Care Residence that Looks Like, Acts Like, Feels Like Home

This paired small house setting incorporates public and private zones that cue residents to restful, calm spaces versus active, energized area. The resident wings are the private zone, analogous to the bedroom portion of a private residence.  The center of the plan is the public zone where living, dining and other day-to-day activities take place.

The human-scale residence allows people living with dementia to enjoy the basic tenants of independence, choice and control.  Design techniques in volume, color, finishes, and artwork reinforce the identity and purpose for each space. For example, cathedral ceilings in the living and dining rooms identify these spaces as more public activity hubs. The more intimate private dining and small activity rooms have lower ceilings signifying quieter alternatives.

Likewise, service and utility doors are discreetly oriented away from resident circulation. This curates an environment that aligns with home versus an institution. The transparent loop provides natural circulation with “clean” art walls, courtyard views and open common spaces.

Engaging, Vibrant Spaces for Memory Care

Interactive programming elements allow people living with dementia to independently navigate their home and choose how they want to spend their day. Each of the building’s four corners features themed engagement zones. Furnishings and accessories can be adjusted seasonally and will reflect residents’ interests.

The design concept supports staff training in the GEMS Positive Approach to Care philosophy of Teepa Snow, a renowned dementia expert. The physical result is distinctly programmed indoor and outdoor spaces to allow for personal choice, purposeful experiences and positive interactions.

More Memory Support Resources

 

Photo Credit: Nathan Cox Photography

 

Chestnut Ridge at Rodale

Emmaus, PA

A Wellness-Focused Senior Living Satellite Community

Phoebe Ministries identified Emmaus as an underserved market opportunity for a senior living satellite community.  Following the sale of the Rodale publishing company, the 38-acre headquarters was vacated.  This unique property led to the vision for Chestnut Ridge at Rodale, a wellness-focused residential community for ages 62 and up that embraces the Rodale values of melding fitness, organic dining, and wellness.

The community will evolve in phases, beginning with adaptive reuse of the former Rodale offices into 122 apartments. The three-story office building will be converted into one and two-bedroom apartments with a center courtyard.  An adjacent one-story office building will be replaced with a four-story, horseshoe-shaped apartment building featuring views of nearby South Mountain.

Community connections

The vacated office campus provided a unique opportunity to engage with the town while creating a distinctive, pedestrian-friendly campus that continues Rodale values relating to health and vitality. An existing onsite childcare center will continue operation and Phoebe intends to develop intergenerational programming. An adjacent service garage that was most recently used as a farmer’s co-op has been converted into the welcome center and sales office.  When Chestnut Ridge opens, this building is envisioned to function as a farmer’s market.  Likewise, a former warehouse now houses a full-size apartment mock-up, with future plans for it to serve as a resource for the greater community, potentially housing the Emmaus Arts and Innovation Center.

Chestnut Ridge at Rodale will maintain and enhance the walking and biking trails on the campus while creating new amenities including an amphitheater for both residents and neighbors. Construction will seek to limit the disturbance of the existing green space, take advantage of existing parking lots, and promote residents’ experience of the natural setting.

Rodale legacy

Building on the Rodale legacy, Phoebe will include raised gardens, programmed courtyards, and walking trails connected to the adjacent nature preserve, as well as sustainable features such as a green wall at the new exterior entrance into the courtyard in the former office building and a green roof for the natatorium.  A new amphitheater transitions up to the park and the design concepts maintain the existing trees as a backdrop to the amphitheater.

Technology to support aging in place

All apartments are equipped with smart technology infrastructure and include a base package with lighting and temperature controls that can be supplemented with additional features at move-in or in the future as needed.  Residents can choose from a wide array of options for supportive technology, social connections and health tracking/monitoring with the expectation that more features will become available as the technology continues to evolve.

Unique courtyard

Opening up the center of the former office building provides daylight and views for the converted apartments.  The design literally cuts a hole in the center of the building, replacing an enclosed atrium with an open courtyard. A green wall made up of live plants highlights the new opening and is visible from the street. Storefront windows with boxed-out bays and French balconies extend outdoor connections for the homes and help prevent the narrow courtyard space from feeling constricted.

A panelized façade system and a row of trees further help to create an appealing human-scale ceiling for this courtyard which features raised gardens for resident and dining program chef use. In the new building, apartments are sequentially angled in a horseshoe formation for expanded views.  The fourth-floor apartments have a taller sloped living room ceiling with transoms above the patio door for even more light.