Adapting to residents’ changing needs, market demands, and the desire to stay affordable to target audiences is a delicate balance in senior living today. As the pace of change continues to accelerate throughout the industry, it’s important for design, both in process and final build-out, to be agile and flexible enough to respond.
During the session “Design and Building Keeping Pace with Change,” co-presenters Faith Hawks, owner and principal in the senior living sector at Moseley Architects, James Owens, division vice president and national senior living market coordinator at The Whiting Turner Contracting Co., and Margaret Suit, vice president of development at Erickson Living, explored some of these factors and how they’re impacting design decisions in senior living design.
So what’s driving change? Evolving resident preferences, healthcare needs, new technologies, goal of staying affordable, building code changes, and local community integration are among the top influencing factors on the list, Suit said. “Future residents aren’t looking for what their parents had,” she said. “A lot of times they’re looking for what their kids have.”
For example, open floor plans with outdoor spaces and views have grown in importance in recent years. “Interestingly enough, now what they see from their porch or patio has become very important,” Suit said. Choice in dining options; purposeful activity spaces that can flex with changing needs; and outdoor amenity spaces, such as firepits, dog parks, outdoor dining, and walking paths, are also in high demand.
Suit noted that wellness and fitness has become a larger part of its communities in response to residents’ desires to stay active longer. In fact, in some of Erikson Living’s larger communities, the operator is finding that that one main fitness center may not be enough and is adding satellite locations throughout those communities for quicker workouts, as well as outdoor space for group sports such as pickleball. “In order to stay affordable, we’ve exchanged some of our lesser used amenities in favor for larger fitness spaces,” she says.
As much as residents value these spaces for socialization, they also desire private outdoor space, which is driving projects such as adding outdoor balconies and patios to existing or building larger, enclosed outdoor spaces at new communities. “They feel more like an extension of the outdoor space,” Hawks said.
In fact, Suit noted that that 10 years ago, Erikson Living provided 10-15 percent outdoor space to its apartments, but that number has grown to nearly 100 percent to offer everyone some type of outdoor space. She noted that when addressing outdoor space design, it’s easier in larger units to delineate these spaces between neighbors, while for smaller units, it might be necessary to use structures or barriers between balconies and porches to deliver privacy.
Inside senior living communities, Hawks says changes are being made to encourage residents to live active lives. For example, design strategies are focusing on making stairs more prominent than elevator lobbies and incorporating multiple landings to encourage use.
Dining approaches are also being updated to appeal to changing preferences, including casual dining spaces that can flex from continental breakfasts in the morning to happy hour spaces in the early evening, outdoor dining options, and carryout. “Bars have become a much bigger part of our offering,” Suit said, adding that communities need to be sensitive to local cultures when choosing the right location for these spaces. “There are certain areas where a bar shouldn’t be the focal point,” she added.
As communities look to meet residents’ changing desires through renovations to existing properties or through new construction, it’s important to balance costs to ensure a community stays affordable to its target audience. “We want to make sure expectations are met, but we need to understand what they’re willing to pay for,” Suit said.
Owens said reacting to market demands, such as evolving resident preferences, modern aesthetics, and new technologies, can also drive up project costs. For example, in the past a project for Erikson Living averaged $150 per square foot, while newer projects are closer to $200, which factors in not only inflation but additional building features like these, he said.
Standardizing certain design elements, such as appliance packages, flooring, hardware, cabinetry, lighting, and HVAC systems, can offer a solution. “That’s one way that we can cut costs but still have flexibility,” Suit says.
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