PHOTO TOUR: Baptist Retirement Community, Henley-Mabee High Rise
Alise O’Brien
The open, light-filled community room integrates built-in storage for hymn books and features stackable armchairs that offer flexibility to support a variety of needs.
Alise O’Brien
Since its original construction, the café had become aesthetically outdated, with server stations visible to customers. In addition to incorporating local artwork and ceramics to give the space a modern feel, the design offers privacy between the front and back of house, as well. The addition of casework and a counter in lieu of furniture creates a more functional environment for staff and an aesthetically pleasing experience for residents and patrons.
Alise O’Brien
The renovated café is unique in that it serves both residents and the larger community. An important design goal was to enhance the two main entrances into the building: this entrance, used primarily by patrons of the restaurant, and the other entrance, used primarily as a private, residential entrance. The new entry design into the café is now distinctly different than the residential entry.
Alise O’Brien
Prior to its renovation, the resident lobby felt closed off and disorganized. The new design relocates the front desk from a nearby corridor to a central, visible desk, to establish a well-defined entry space that improves sight lines and creates a distinct and welcoming concierge area. The gift shop was relocated to the west lobby directly adjacent to the visitor’s entrance to help increase foot traffic and gift shop sales.
Alise O’Brien
The resident lobby serves as a highly used gathering and living space. The lobby opens to the adjacent corridor and elevators and allows light from the lobby to come in and create a brighter, more open feel. Plush seating and modern fixtures combine with improved sight lines and enhanced wayfinding to produce a modern and welcoming space.
Alise O’Brien
The existing community salon had become nearly dysfunctional. Three stylist stations, situated too close to one another, were unusable and the waiting area had been co-opted for use as library storage. The reconfigured design features abundant daylight and accommodates two generously sized salon stations and a larger manicure/pedicure area. Expanded spaces elsewhere mean the waiting area now serves its original purpose and enables social engagement and resident interaction.
Buckner Retirement Services (Dallas) and Baptist Retirement Community (BRC; San Angelo, Texas) were looking to enhance the experience of residents in the Henley-Mabee High Rise, an independent living apartment building. Since its original construction, the building had become both functionally and aesthetically out-of-date, rendering several spaces and amenities either entirely nonoperational or less than ideal for use by residents. The lobby, for example, felt closed off and disorganized; likewise, the café’s two entrances lacked functionality, offering no visible reception or concierge station to easily guide residents and outside patrons.
Buckner and BRC engaged the RDG Planning & Design architecture and design teams (Omaha, Nebr. and St. Louis) to lead the renovation of several amenity spaces that had become outdated and were in need of remodeling.
RDG’s subsequent design transformed 21,000 square feet of space, including the building’s main lobby and dining spaces, to improve efficiencies, enhance wayfinding, and ultimately create engaging environments where residents can socialize and connect. To improve efficiencies, RGD relocated the front desk from a nearby corridor to a central visible concierge-type desk, establishing a well-defined welcoming space. The once closed off space is now open, enhancing sightlines from the desk to the entrance, and offering clearly marked signage for residents, staff, and visitors. To help increase sales and awareness, the gift shop was relocated from a vacant resident room to a prominent location in the west lobby. A critical component of the design was transformation of the Main Street Café, which functions as both a resident amenity and a restaurant for the general public. RDG’s design establishes clear resident and community patron entry points, and incorporates local artwork and ceramics and wayfinding signage to create a cohesively branded destination that celebrates the context of the broader community.
Project details:
Facility name: Baptist Retirement Community, Henley-Mabee High Rise
Location: San Angelo, Texas
Completion date: February 2020
Owner: Buckner Retirement Services
Total building area: 21,047 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: $2.5 million
Cost/sq. ft.: $117/sq. ft.
Architecture firm: RDG Planning & Design
Interior design: RDG Planning & Design
General contractor: Whiting Turner
Engineering: Morrissey Engineering
Builder: N/A
