For a man who spent a career working in construction, there can be a great deal of value in simply hearing the familiar buzz of a saw or smelling the comforting scent of sawdust in the air—even if a small woodshop with a few 2-by-4’s at the ready doesn’t quite compare to the structures he built decades before.
That’s the power of amenities.
During the 2013 Environments for Aging Conference in Anaheim, Calif., I had the pleasure of touring Walnut Village, a CCRC in a residential area of Anaheim, Calif., where a panel of residents was on hand to tell us about their community, specifically what design features they found most successful. For this panelist, it was the “man cave” the community offered where residents could put their woodworking skills to the test.
Walnut Village had plenty else on tap, too, from an artist studio to a putting green to a piano bar/pub. After all, no matter your age, we all need the ability to pursue our hobbies or enjoy a few simple pleasures (happy hour!).
That’s why long-term care communities across the country are upping the ante when it comes to including lots of activity spaces in addition to safe and comfortable housing.
Just peruse the Environments for Aging (EFA) news briefs on projects-in-progress for a pulse on what’s out there: Trillium Woods in Plymouth, Minn., includes an auditorium, café, and walking trails; Oak Pointe of Maryville in Maryville, Mo., offers private dining and special occasion spaces, a crafts and hobby room, and a beauty salon and barber shop; and The Gardens at Brook Ridge in Pharr, Texas, features an on-site theater, chapel, and library.
But these are new-build spaces. Certainly ground-up projects face their own challenges, but when it comes to the amenities game, there are existing communities across the country realizing that in order to remain competitive, the built environment needs to support this type of programming and outdated spaces of old need a breath of fresh air.
That’s why we here at EFA homed in on amenities as the category for this year's Remodel/Renovation Competition. The options to jointly answer market pressures and community needs are as limitless as residents’ interests.
Project submissions have made it through a review by our jury and are now in your hands. Finalists with the most reader votes will be named Best in Category, published in our Fall 2014 issue of EFA, and recognized at the 2015 EFA Conference.
Be sure to cast your vote by July 10, and let us know how your communities are being designed with amenities in mind.
