Architecture and Master Planning | Residential Health Care | Community Center
Inglewood, California
Conceptual Design
Project Description
At pod a+d, senior living facilities are not a cookie-cutter typology. For the Inglewood Seniors’ Center, we suggested a new, holistic typology by assimilating three design ideas with proven benefits for seniors’ health and wellness: Green Space, Universal Design, and Community Engagement.
Our proposal for making maximum use of the city’s 33,300-square-foot site calls for a two-story structure that balances built spaces with open-air green/garden spaces, assuring that every interior space enjoys natural lighting and a visual or physical connection to a garden. We integrated these green spaces vertically into the design and replaced the physical center of the structure with a two-story-clear atrium.
To make the Center fully accessible, we embraced Universal Design as integral to the core architecture rather than code compliance. To wit: The two-story structure functions like a gradually ramping garden in which indoor, outdoor, and accessibility elements intermingle almost imperceptibly.
The many well-documented benefits that the elderly, other adults, and young people alike experience when they interact inspired the large, open, park-like entry to the Center right on the corner. Like a welcoming “front porch,” this design element is key to community engagement. Here, residents and staff could easily meet and mingle with the neighborhood folks and make a positive impact on the community.
Credits
Design and Architecture:
Douglas Pierson, (as Partner with (fer) studio, LLP), Youn Choi
Renderings: Youn Choi