Sanctuary Care in Rye, N.H., is designed specifically for memory care. Opened in July 2013, the residence is the result of a seven-year long vision of founder Jonathan McCoy, who partnered with Scott Kingsley, a bank executive. Architectural and design criteria were focused on providing senior residents with a calming, homelike environment for memory care, deployed through an open floor plan with wayfinding features and a large amount of natural light in the interrelating common spaces and resident rooms.
Architectural and environmental design elements promote calmness, ease anxiety, provide a positive sense of orientation, and promote a sense of security and independence. Key design elements include 8,900 square feet of community courtyard space featuring a copper fountain in the form of the Sanctuary Care logo. The entrance and lobby feature a water wall, curvilinear wall corners, seating beneath a clerestory, and expansive views to the outdoors from all common areas. Sullivan Construction (Bedford, N.H.) was the builder.
DiGiorgio Associates (Boston) used coastal architecture to create a single-story structure with two residential wings attached to two activity cores. Spacious private and semi-private rooms are positioned along a circular hall so that no one has to be told they’re going the wrong way. Reducing isolation through social interaction and building up emotional, cognitive, and spiritual strengths occur in the core structure spaces. Interiors include an expansive courtyard, an open community kitchen and café-style dining area, private dining rooms, chapel, library, living room, open activity areas, administrative rooms, and a game room wrapped by a three-season porch lined in white rocking chairs.
Currier and Associates (Newburyport, Mass.) designed the environment to stimulate Alzheimer’s residents in a positive way through the careful use of light, colors, patterns, textures, and other elements. Calming colors throughout the residence provide a sense of serenity. The collection of artwork includes a variety of photographs with subject matter that’s familiar to residents. All 56 resident rooms feature a memory box on the outside wall, containing resident mementos that make it easy to locate a room.
