Located atop Chelsea’s iconic Powder Horn Hill, the Community Living Center is a long-term care facility for the Commonwealth’s veterans. Designed to capture panoramic views of downtown Boston and the harbor, the transformative new facility has 154 private rooms organized around shared community spaces and surrounded by generous courtyards. Upon the completion of the nearby Quigley Building demolition, this enables the development of the full seven-acre site into an accessible landscape and the restoration of the adjacent Malone Park as a public amenity.
The team incorporated design elements that stemmed from a review of evidence-based research studying the effect of the built environment on long-term care. Critical interior planning and design decisions were based on this research, including centralized dining and living rooms within the houses, bright lighting with circadian tuning, a home-like environment with positive sensory and safety enhancement and features that allow for personalization by residents.
Through programming workshops and tours of similar facilities, the team brought together multiple stakeholder groups to develop shared knowledge and common references, jointly evaluating design and programming decisions. A full-scale mock-up of the resident room was installed on-site to solicit feedback from core stakeholders, future residents and residents’ families. They evaluated everything from the mounting heights of bathroom fittings to provisions for patient privacy, accessibility and care. Through questionnaires and observation, the team synthesized the data into simple diagrams to report back findings and refine the design.
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