Environments for Aging - Spring 2017 - 37

The jurors noted that project teams should
consider placing equipment away from
resident spaces and integrating technologies,
such as noise cancelation systems, white
noise, and hearing loops, with architectural
and interior design strategies to help address
the issue. Juror Skip Gregory, president of
Health Facility Consulting LLC (Tallahassee,
Fla.), offered another idea: Hiring an acoustical
engineer. "How many projects are thinking of
this?" he says.

Going vertical
As senior living owners and operators
confront issues of increasing land costs and
site constraints, the industry is seeing more
vertical communities, with smaller footprints,
launched. Several of this year's Showcase
projects used the model, but it drew mixed reactions from jurors, with some saying multiple
stories solve some longstanding issues in senior living design, such as walking distances,
while others expressed concern that it creates
new challenges. For example,
multilevel buildings can pose
challenges for residents with
higher acuity levels or mobility
issues who rely on assistance
to travel within the facility or
outdoors. "This can add to
staffing levels and/or limit

quality of life for residents on higher floors,
if not carefully managed," Andrews says.
Ultimately, she thinks multistory communities
have a place in the
market, depending on the resident
population. "Particularly for independent
living, this solution
can have appeal,"

For example, he says some projects had
couches and chairs in lobbies with deep
seating, which can cause difficulties for

she says.
Jurors say the successful vertical projects created visual connections between
levels, focused on wayfinding, and followed more of a hospitality model with the
aesthetic of a resort or high-end residential
apartment building.

a person trying to rise from a seated
position. In bathrooms, large vanities
had no knee space underneath where
residents could use a seat or a wheelchair.
"There appeared to be little concern that
residents may age in place and require
walkers, wheelchairs, or motorized carts,
or be less physically able," he says.
McKay adds that he's still looking for design solutions that move past long doubleloaded corridors. "The results remain a
challenge for the residents who live there,
and the trend favors operational processes
over people-which is backwards, in my
opinion," he says. EFA

More attention is being given
to interiors, furniture, and
detailing than in years past.

Future fixes
Jurors agreed that there's more attention being given to interiors, furniture, and
detailing than in years past, including a shift
to a more modern design aesthetic through
furniture choices and décor, with clean
geometric lines, especially in independent
living environments. But Proffitt expressed
concern that some of the furniture choices
and bathroom and kitchen layouts would
not easily adapt as residents become less
physically able.

Anne DiNardo is executive editor of Environments for Aging. She can be reached at anne.
dinardo@emeraldexpo.com.

Spring 2017 * EFAmagazine.com 37

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Environments for Aging - Spring 2017

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