n Development Smart Design Pays Dividends From sustainable building features to family-friendly dining venues to comfortable staff lounges, today’s architects provide project blueprints that both inspire and pencil out. By Jeff Shaw Seniors housing as an industry is always changing, but the pace the past few years has been especially fast. From the temporary and permanent changes during the COVID-19 pan-demic to the national labor shortage hitting this sector particularly hard — all against the back-drop of a massive wave of demand coming from the baby boomers in the near future — there are plenty of challenges to consider right now. Architects and interior designers have to keep up with these challenges, ensuring that the physical plant of a seniors housing com-munity matches how operators need to run the business, frontline employees do their jobs and residents want to live. One method of pleasing all parties is to invite more of the greater community inside. While this can often deal more with site selection, such as making sure there is public transpor-tation and retail nearby, some developers are including a retail element directly in the seniors housing community. For example, Dora Kay, senior living sector leader for Moseley Architects, while speaking at France Media’s InterFace Seniors Housing Cuningham designed Wesley at Tehaleh Senior Living in Bonney Lake, Washington, to include the surrounding wooded area and views of Mount Rainier. Photo credit: Moris Moreno Southeast conference in Atlanta, cited one proj-ect where ground-floor retail was specifically requested. The developer ended up renting that space to a local art group. “It gave a sense of purpose to the commu-Spiezle designed this cafe at Parker at Somerset in Somerset, New Jersey. This 120-bed post-acute rehabilitation and long-term care facility offers a full spectrum of services. nity,” said Kay. Alejandro Giraldo, a principal at Perkins Eastman, says his firm often designs ameni-ties such as the fitness center, dining areas and salons to be accessible to residents, staff and the outside community. “Groups are finding that not only serving their own residents, but opening to the world, is becoming important. Wellness programs and aerobic classes are in many cases being offered to the community and helping on the financial side.” In one case, a Lantz-Boggio client even requested “a swimming pool big enough for local competitions, a gym that could handle people of all ages and a fine-dining experi-ence that would become a destination for families,” according to Bill Foster, partner with Lantz-Boggio Architects & Interior Designers. The asset, named The Davis Community, is in Wilmington, North Carolina. “Next to that community center with its multi-purpose space and dining experience is a courtyard park with an amphitheater for small concerts and events, such as weddings, that need the ability to shift indoors or outdoors in the unpredictable weather on the North Caro-lina coast.” n 26 www.seniorshousingbusiness.com Seniors Housing Business October-November 2022
Seniors Housing Business October/November 2022: Page 26
