Executives and design and style companions associated with the improvement of The Holbrook of Woodstock understood they desired a thought that could disrupt senior residing norms though acquiring new means of approaching facilities.
The Holbrook at Woodstock is a continuing care retirement neighborhood (CCRC) on a sprawling 20-acre web site in suburban Atlanta that incorporates 300 impartial dwelling, assisted residing and memory care residences. The assisted living and memory treatment areas consist of a two-tale, 128,131 sq.-foot composition although the unbiased living part is a 5-tale, 293,079 square-foot area. The campus also includes 16 a person and two-story cottages.
The undertaking was developed by Harrison Structure Associates with an emphasis on hard preconceived notions of senior residing, with the community having the capabilities of significant conclude single-spouse and children residences with features of a environment course vacation resort. Development of the local community was overseen by Solomon Enhancement Services.
With an emphasis on breaking common conceptions about senior residing by means of deliberate design, The Holbrook of Woodstock observed new techniques to present significant-course facilities to people when innovating and bringing in public interactions, earning it a best place in the 2021 Senior Housing Information Architecture & Structure Awards’ Ideal CCRC “Lite” class.
The concept
The Holbrook of Woodstock marks the 3rd project in Solomon’s “new generation” of massive-scale communities, according to Solomon Advancement Services President Davis Hunt. The job very first started off coming jointly just about seven many years in the past.
“We like Atlanta a good deal and we know Atlanta actually effectively,” Hunt advised Senior Housing Information. “We felt the Woodstock place was appropriate for this form of solution.”
Job planners secured land for the community in 2015 and a lengthy, but properly-gained zoning process culminated in building in 2018.
Executives at Holbrook strived to include ground breaking techniques to drawing the general public into the local community via the dining, spa and function areas, though also undertaking away with the regular senior residing terminology. The independent dwelling residences are recognized as “active passionate,” assisted residing areas are recognized as “enriched” and memory care is “inspired residing.”
“We preferred to disrupt the field by modifying all the nomenclature and seriously going soon after more of an lively client,” Al Holbrook, chairman and CEO of Holbrook Everyday living, explained to SHN.. “We realized with the child boomer inhabitants coming up, we experienced to have a entire suite of amenities in our communities.”
Holbrook Lifestyle sold 21 leases around the last 7 years of senior residing homes ahead of shifting gears to concentration on larger sized campuses. Currently, Holbrook Lifetime operates 6 communities across Ga, South Carolina and Tennessee.
The Holbrook of Woodstock’s dining venues are promoted as places to eat that also provide the community in addition to residents. The campus’ Zinnia cafe slings with seize-n-go snacks and built-to-buy sandwiches, although the Off The Rails restaurant and Off The Rails Sporting activities Bar offer extra upscale-fashion food services.
Developing eating venues that the community could also use has been a extensive-expression intention for the corporation. Holbrook recalled a assembly in 2017 with other executives when it was asked if any person ate at their respective property’s eating venues — and no one mentioned yes.
“I understood that we had a really serious problem,” Holbrook claimed. “We all know foods is your drugs and medicine is your foods. So we employed a restaurant branding business and made the decision we had been going to build initially-class restaurants into our communities.”
The community’s sprawling style and design is rooted in creating a community feel that is related with going for walks trails and courtyards, whilst keeping the privacy and intimacy for residents.. The style team also highly regarded the architecture and the craftsman-type residences of the adjoining present residential group.
The Harrison design staff managed initial website choice as a expert before defending architectural, design and landscaping plans for the task.
“I felt like the Holbrook workforce was actually potent in instilling that sense of disruption all the way by way of the procedure visually but also in the verbiage they ended up employing with the project from the beginning,” stated Harrison Style Principal Emily Schickner.
A single of the project’s aims was to make areas wherever people and associates of the public could interact. To attain that, the Harrison staff realized they experienced to discover methods to aid people and the public.
“The public spaces generate a stage of complete there and we were being in a position to do that inside of an achievable funds. It is a harmony of those people two issues. Acquiring the feel of that was something that was significant and a obstacle,” Williamson claimed.
Designers also experienced to incorporate distinctive infrastructure items essential in senior dwelling areas to in shape over huge, vaulted ceilings with various a lot more stories of setting up on prime of it.
The group discovered new ways to incorporate prospective resident feedback into the structure, and permitted residents to customize space patterns right after looking at renderings..
“There are a lot of unique unit layouts in the neighborhood to create an personal resident experience,” Schickner explained. “It manufactured for a puzzle you received to working experience all the way via. It was not completed when the allowing came through. Not even shut.”
The community features a spa, two swimming pools, a salon, communal living rooms, a library, theater, wine cellar and multiple inexperienced spaces for people.
Design
Development on the site began in late 2018 and continued in 2019 in spite of a historically prolonged rainy time period for Georgia, Hunt stated. The rain additional to the challenges of the site, which previously held a lake..
“It felt like it was under no circumstances heading to halt raining,” Hunt stated frivolously. “But in the end, we worked our way by way of it and in the end we sent a definitely remarkable venture.”
Construction ongoing into 2020 through the Covid-19 pandemic, wrapping up in early 2021.
The completion
The community moved in its cottage citizens in March, 2020, and opened to citizens belonging to all stages of care in 2021. Transfer-ins continued irrespective of the pandemic.
The community includes specialised equipment these types of as UV lighting, adverse ion emission and HVAC methods to fight the unfold of Covid-19.
“We feel with our protocols and all all those techniques, we experienced some of the safest properties in the field in the course of the pandemic and going forward,” Holbrook reported.
The local community also did not go into “total lockdown,” as Holbrook identified as it, and allowed household associates to check out inhabitants safely all through.s.
Holbrook stated the community been given about 1,500 inquiries from possible people in 2021.. Now, leaders with the corporation count on to fill all of the community’s vacant models about two years ahead of schedule.
“When you have bought grandchildren coming in for swimming classes and family members gatherings going on, phrase spreads rapidly that we are not your typical home,” Holbrook additional. “It truly is a distinct group.”
The cafe-model eating venues have also aided build an intergenerational atmosphere in the community since opening, and Holbrook claimed a “tremendous” selection of outdoors clients with no affiliation to the Holbrook of Woodstock or its inhabitants have come by way of the residence to use various facilities.
“We know it performs, and folks are having a whole lot of pleasurable,” Holbrook included.
Steve Levin, a former senior vice president of real estate with Omega Healthcare Investors who served as an SHN awards decide, reported the Holbrook of Woodstock was a profitable end result of numerous components to produce a truly redefined senior dwelling surroundings.
“This is a place the place you reside. This is advertising and marketing way of living. They genuinely are hitting it on all cylinders,” Levin stated.”This is wherever an getting older populace is going to be in an atmosphere wherever they can excel with a resort mentality.”
Levin additional that the strong amenities at the Holbrook of Woodstock would assist people proceed to delight in their life style selections without having owning to make sacrifices when thinking about going into a senior dwelling neighborhood.
The longtime senior dwelling field executive complemented Holbrook’s seamless incorporation of various ranges of care and ground ideas for people.
“Stand on your own communities are not likely to be in a position to sustain due to the fact the average size of continue to be is limited,” Levin included. “People are dwelling lengthier and much healthier lives and by the time you get into genuine memory care and assisted dwelling, your keep might not be far too extensive. This is a complete continuum of profits and you are in a position to attract them and market them.”
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