Three Crowns Park wins Best in Show from
DESIGN/ Environments for Aging 2009!
DESIGN / Environments for Aging have awarded the Best in Show prize to McDaniel House, the newly opened Health Care Household at Three Crowns Park! The architectural competition is organized by Long-Term Living Magazine and judged by members of the Society for the Advancement of Gerontological Environments (SAGE). The primary focus of the awards program is honoring design teams and projects that create forward-thinking, resident-centered communities.
After successfully providing care to the senior population for over 100 years, the Board of Directors at Three Crowns Park together with Executive Director, Susan Morse, determined it was time to change the “medical model” nursing home environment within the existing community. They chose to implement the household concept for skilled nursing by changing the physical environment as well as implementing a new “culture change model” of care. They teamed up with Gene Guszkowski of AG Architecture to implement a household model in intermediate and skilled nursing care. The goal was to create an environment that puts residents first and feels like home while providing the extra care the residents need.
“You have to start by asking, ‘What is a home?’” explains Guszkowski. “In our society whether you call it a condo, a house, an apartment, or a co-op, you start with a sense of entry, you have a social space such as a living room, you have a place where you dine, a place to prepare food, and a private bedroom. What we were trying to do was take that idea and adapt it to create three, 18-bed households.”
The new environment begins in the elevator lobby that looks like the porch of your house, complete with front door and doorbell, creating a distinct residential presence. This continues when you step into the great room that includes a living room, dining area, and activity kitchen. A sitting room offers a place for a private family visit or space for some quality personal time. A cheery sun room brings the outdoors in, so residents can enjoy the beauty of the surrounding nature without having to bundle up or weather the elements. As in all homes, bedrooms are placed in more private areas and residents are encouraged to personalize them with their own furniture and personal belongings. Safety features such as call lights and medication storage are still included, but in such a way as to not interfere with the personality of the bedroom. Nursing nooks are tucked in corners, so as to not disturb the home-like model.
McDaniel House, which opened in August 2008, is the first of three planned households, each accommodating 16 – 18 residents. While McDaniel House was part of a new independent living construction, the second and third households are a renovation of the existing skilled nursing location. Renovations are in progress, with completion of the second household expected later this fall. The nature and delivery of long-term care is forever changed at Three Crowns Park.
Susan Morse, Executive Director of Three Crowns Park, and Gene Guszkowski, Principal at AG Architecture and the designer of McDaniel House, accept the award at the Environments for Aging Conference March 29th.
Jury Comment
The separation of each household within an existing structure was well done. Entrance into households is similar to the hierarchy of entering your home. This community did its homework—learning from others that have changed their culture to create their own.
As printed in DESIGN’s March 2009 issue.
Click here to read a feature on Gene Guszkowski and
Three Crowns Park
in DESIGN magazine.
|
