Aegis Living San Rafael
Across its 37 assisted living and memory care communities in Washington, California, and Nevada, owner-operator Aegis Living (Bellevue, Wash.) aims to avoid any design that suggests a generic, institutional environment. “I always say our buildings should never be called the F-word: ‘facility,’” says Adam Clark, president of development at Aegis Living.
Instead, Aegis Living wants to create welcoming communities whose designs are rooted in their specific locations, so that it’s not only familiar to residents who come from the area but also fits with the local aesthetic that attracts new residents. For its new luxury development in San Rafael, Calif., Aegis Living chose a Mission Revival style to reflect San Rafael’s nickname, City with a Mission. The moniker is a reference to the city’s Mission San Rafael Arcángel, a chapel that’s a 1949-built replica of the original 1817 structure, located just a few blocks from the project site.
To achieve this integration, Aegis Living asked the design team at Ankrom Moisan (Portland, Ore.) to draw inspiration from Mission San Rafael. For example, the senior living community’s white stucco exterior and clay-tiled roof are instantly recognizable to local residents while aligning with the town aesthetic.
“Aegis Living likes to draw on the surrounding neighborhood and its history for inspiration,” says Ryan Miyahira, senior communities studio director of architecture at Ankrom Moisan and principal in charge on the project.
Aegis Living’s leaders chose San Rafael, Calif., partly for its location in Marin County, which has the oldest population in the nine-county Bay Area and was “incredibly underserved” by existing senior living communities, Clark says.
In addition to the overall design approach, the site location helped incorporate the development into the local community. Aegis Living selected a long-vacant downtown site at the intersection of two arterial streets, Mission and Lincoln avenues, within easy walking distance of the retail district, so that residents could feel like they’re fully part of San Rafael.
How Aegis Living added assisted living units on a tight site
The plan launched in 2017 and was first envisioned as a 4-story, 88-unit structure. Recognizing growing demand as well as an opportunity to provide additional revenue that would ensure the building’s operational profitability, the project team decided the community needed more units. However, providing those spaces on a small urban-infill site of 30,000 square feet (less than an acre) meant building another floor. “The way the project would pencil out is by adding a fifth floor,” Miyahira says.
The fifth floor added 23 more assisted living units, bringing the total to 63, in addition to 38 memory care units. Memory care occupies the second floor and part of the third, with assisted living units on the third, fourth, and fifth levels. Assisted living units have kitchenettes, and each of the two memory care floors has its own dining room.
Common areas—including living, dining, activity, fitness, salon, and cinema—are located on the first floor to help foster interaction and community on the same level, while residents’ private units occupy the floors above. To provide ample common space on the ground floor, Aegis Living planned from the project’s start to place all 40 parking spaces and the HVAC systems in the building’s basement level. “We want to make sure that community is the focus,” Clark says.
While adding a fifth floor, the team wanted to maintain the building’s 4-story look and feel to keep the structure congruent with the surrounding neighborhood. This drove the decision to set the fifth floor several feet back from the façade, which would result in units on that floor losing some square footage but gaining private patios. “Those apartments on level five have some of the best views in town,” says Juanita McLaughlin, director of construction and asset management at Aegis Living.
After receiving final approval in 2021, the project broke ground in November 2022 and opened its doors in September 2025, at a total project cost of about $1 million per residential unit, Clark says. He notes that while pandemic-related delays extended Aegis Living’s typical construction timeline of roughly two years, the project has met with quick success. Aegis Living’s projects typically reach full occupancy after three years, but San Rafael approached 60 percent occupancy after 13 months and likely will reach full occupancy in just over two years after opening, Clark says.
Interior design creates sensory cues for assisted living residents
The project’s high-end take on Mission Revival style informs the entire structure. In addition to the bell tower rising above the building, the exterior boasts wrought-iron gates and railings, wood posts along the top-floor patios, and large arched windows. A stone water fountain, surrounded by bespoke blue and white tiling, is tucked into a wall near the front entrance.
The 120,000-square-foot interior’s Mission-inspired stylings include decorative ironwork surrounding entryways, hand-painted tiles adorning archways, and exposed wood beams on the ceilings. As another homage to local history, the movie theater has an art deco marquee displaying the words “El Camino,” the name of the town’s first motel, which used to occupy the project site.
The interior design elements do more than create a familiar atmosphere for residents; they also help orient residents within the building, says Darla Esnard, Ankrom Moisan’s senior communities studio director of interiors, who oversaw the project’s interiors. The building’s vibrant, contrasting colors and patterns can be readily discerned by older eyes, she explains. “We’ve learned a lot about how the aging eye receives color,” Esnard says. For instance, a green living wall welcomes visitors to the wellness suite, and the smoothie and juice bar features wallpaper with brightly colored birds and plants. “These details help with wayfinding,” Esnard says.
By contrast, the memory care areas on the second and third floors have more muted, solid colors and patterns. “Anything that is overly busy can be disturbing to some residents in memory care,” Esnard says.
Design comfort and familiarity are especially critical for senior residents who might experience memory loss or other cognitive impairments, Clark explains. For example, in the courtyard on the building’s memory care level, a mural depicts a plaza street scene. “It’s a visual cue for someone living in a memory care environment so they can see something familiar,” McLaughlin says.
How Aegis Living San Rafael embraces the outdoors
While Aegis Living San Rafael sits on a tight site, the owner-developer wanted to give residents as much outdoor space as possible. The development offers about 5,400 square feet of outdoor courtyard space, including a street-facing enclosure that serves as a dining terrace and connects with the interior dining room via large windows and doors.
A second courtyard sits behind the building on the second-floor memory care level, with wrought-iron fencing helping to create a secure environment. The space is overlooked by a glass-walled deck on the third-floor memory care level. The 1,000-square-foot rooftop terrace offers residents views of downtown San Rafael, the San Francisco Bay, and Mount Tamalpais.
The abundant outdoor environments not only allow residents to enjoy fresh air and daylight but also helps them feel connected with their surrounding neighborhood. “The outdoor spaces and seating along the street really invite the community in and create a good connection with downtown,” Miyahira says. “There’s a seamless connection between the outside and inside spaces.”
Novid Parsi is a St. Louis-based freelance writer and can be reached at [email protected].
Aegis Living San Rafael project details
Project name: Aegis Living San Rafael
Project location: San Rafael, Calif.
Project completion date: September 2025
Owner: Aegis Living
Total building area: 120,000 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: Not disclosed
Cost/sq. ft.: Not disclosed
Architect: Ankrom Moisan
Interior designer: Ankrom Moisan
General contractor: KPRS Construction Services, Inc.,
Engineers Swenson Say Fagét (SSF Engineering; structural), Glumac (MEP), CSW/Stuber-Stroeh Engineering Group (CSW/ST2; civil)
Landscape architect: Studio Green
Building envelope: Morrison Hershfield Corporation
Acoustics: A3 Acoustics
Geotechnical: Langan Treadwell & Rollo
Foodservice/kitchen: Avanti Restaurante solutions
Builder: KPRS Construction Services
Art consultant: Aegis Living
Art/pictures: Aegis Living
AV equipment/electronics/software: ASD Automated systems design, Aegis Living
Carpet/flooring: Shaw Contract, Patcraft, Mohawk Group, Pioneer Millworks, Elmwood Reclaimed Timber
Ceiling/wall systems: Armstrong
Furniture—seating/casegoods: Aegis Living
Handrails/wall guards: Construction Specialties, Inc.
Lighting: Decorative: Hudson Valley Lighting; Shades of Light
Surfaces—solid/other: Cambria, Silestone, Wilsonart
Tile: Bedrosians, Daltile, Ann Sacks, Fireclay, Tabarka Studio, Arizona Tile, Ambiente Tile
Wallcoverings: MDC, Trikes
Paint/plaster/millwork/metal: Sherwin-Williams, Benjamin Moore, Starke Millwork, Ekena Millwork, Stromberg
Hand-painted tile: Tabarka Studio, Ann Sacks, Fireclay
Wrought-iron gates and fixtures: Custom Iron Works
Project details are provided by the design team and not vetted by Environments for Aging.
