A 23-member jury of industry professionals, including architects, interior designers, providers, consultants, and researchers, was charged with sifting through the 59 projects submitted to this year’s Environments for Aging (EFA) Design Showcase, determining which ones made the cut to be published and which ones rose to the top and earned awards. Most importantly, they offered their unique perspectives. It’s a multidisciplinary approach that adds dimension to the judging process and provides the opportunity to recognize projects’ merits in a much richer way.
So we asked them how they approached this task from their individual spots within senior living design and what they took away from the work they reviewed. Here's what juror Skip Gregory had to say.
Skip Gregory, NCARB
President, Health Facility Consulting LLC (Tallahassee, Fla.)
Then I became involved with SAGE and other groups advocating for improved senior living design and began to understand these projects could be designed to actually create exciting and healing environments instead of the drab and dreary institutional designs I had been so willing to accept. I began to utilize my knowledge and experience as an architect as well as a code official to make a difference in the work I was doing.
As I learned more about these new ideas from the pioneers and experts of geriatric environments, I started to talk to architects and providers about household models in nursing homes and lectured to groups about culture change precepts and philosophy.
Now when I review designs, I still look for the fire safety and building code requirements but I also determine whether the design itself is in harmony with the principals of humanizing environments advocated by SAGE. As an “enlightened” former regulator, I am interested in how well the description fits the plans and photographs of the project.
