The Spires at Berry College, a 400,000-square-foot continuing care retirement community (CCRC) opened on June 2020 on the campus of Berry College, in Rome, Ga., and is the first CCRC in northwest Georgia and one of the first built on a college campus in the country.
Situated on 48 acres, The Spires offers assisted living, independent living, memory care, skilled nursing, and rehabilitation care. The project opened on June 2020.
The design team that includes THW Design (Atlanta) and Faulkner Design Group (Dallas) worked with Berry College and Lavender Mountain Senior Living (Mount Berry, Ga.) to create a vision for a community that would be a destination retirement community for alumni and area residents, while also creating work study options for Berry College students.
The overall design was guided by the desire to connect CCRC residents to the Berry College campus and its rich landscape and outdoor space. It was important that a connecting road and walking path be installed to keep the Berry College campus and The Spires campus together. The campus boasts more than 27,000 acres of land, which incorporates the college campus, residential buildings, a retreat center 44 miles of hiking and biking trails, and the 88-acre Eagle Lake on the west side of campus. The team incorporated a variety of natural stone materials into the building to reflect the architecture on campus. The interior materials include stacked stone, warm wood, porcelain tile with a carrara marble look, and custom broadloom carpets with large-scale geometric prints. A color palette of warm neutrals, gray, gold, and saturated jewel tones such as deep teal and merlot, are meant to reflect the colors found in Eagle Lake and are used throughout.
Custom large-scale decorative light fixtures in bronze finishes are featured throughout the commons in the dining areas and in gathering spaces. In the casual dining area, hand-painted real wood canoes specifically play-off of views of Eagle Lake. The fitness area and shared hallway to the healthcare building have custom gallery walls featuring Berry College photography and a custom honor/veterans wall that displays all five branches of the military using insignia and provides a place to feature residents and team members who served. Custom shadow box art using vintage vanity sets adorn the salon.
To support intergenerational activities, the team designed CCRC spaces that would inspire learning, mentorship, and fellowship activities. For example, The club room features a variety of games and activities that would appeal to multiple generations. A full-size shuffleboard table has been a popular spot for students and residents to challenge each other to a game. The multipurpose room has been designed for dramatic and musical performances and features the latest audio visual technology for residents and students.
Project details:
Facility name: The Spires at Berry College
Location: Rome, Ga.
Completion date: June 2020
Owner: Lavender Mountain Senior Living, Greenbrier Senior Living (operator)
Total building area: 400,000 sq. ft.
Total construction cost: $88 million
Construction Cost/sq. ft.: $190
Architecture firm: THW Design
Interior design: Faulkner Design Group
General contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie
Engineering: Peoples and Quigley
Developer: Greenbrier Development
