Senior Living Campus Reinvention on a Tight Site
Blakeford Senior Life is nestled in, and a member of, the Green Hills Homeowners Association development in Nashville, TN. Campus reinvention respected its strong community connection and intergenerational setting for senior residents to live and thrive – complete with HOA-sponsored walking paths, a lake, and a robust recreation center.
As its name suggests, the broader Green Hills neighborhood boasts rolling hills and gently curving tree-lined roads. Blakeford collaborated with stakeholders to understand the impact on the surrounding residences and then to enhance the broader Green Hills neighborhood through its campus reinvention, taking care to solicit and incorporate feedback from neighbors into the design.
Photography Credit: Nathan Cox Photography
The nearly built-out existing campus was expanded and renovated to create new senior living experiences.
Additions include new, luxury independent living apartments above structured parking and a state-of-the-art fitness and wellness center. Renovations included removing and replacing an existing wing of assisted living with assisted living memory care, and reinventing spaces to skilled care / short-term rehab. Commons areas were also extensively renovated.
A significant program driver was Blakeford’s desire to add assisted living memory care to their offerings.
The project team demolished one existing assisted living wing and replaced it with a modern memory care neighborhood, complete with indoor and outdoor walking loops, outdoor dining and courtyards.
Brian Barnes President/CEO Blakeford Senior LifeBlakeford’s new physical therapy courtyard has transformed how we help people recover and return home. The variety of ground surfaces and therapy hubs help people learn to navigate real-world environmental challenges, giving them the best chance to get and stay healthy. The ability to deliver this type of innovative, functional therapy in a beautiful garden setting further enhances resident and team member wellness.
While residents could traverse all levels of care from within the buildings, walking routes to various destinations were initially indirect and sometimes confusing.
One creative solution to bring residents to assisted living was the addition of a bakery window along the corridor between the commons and assisted living. The window opens onto a pastry station where you can interact with staff and are regularly tempted to snag a sweet treat as you pass by.
By infilling an existing internal courtyard and enclosing it with a massive skylight, the main community ‘front door’ and adjacent restaurants have been elevated to brightly lit, vibrant and welcoming spaces. Experiential dining spaces, an art studio, a game room, a cocktail bar, and an outdoor event space now grace the entrance experience, positioning Blakeford as a future-ready community.
Campus reinvention encompassed introduction of a robust, two-story fitness and wellness center
This includes a state-of-the-art aquatics center with underwater treadmills, a spa with massage rooms, hair and nail stations, a fitness gym, a group fitness classroom, and even a canine spa! The levels are visually connected through a two-story atrium space which features a two-story living (green) wall to punctuate the wellness theme through biophilic design.
Every aspect of this senior living campus reinvention, from building height and form to exterior materials and color palettes, complemented the surrounding neighborhood. The new apartment tower was intentionally located along the edge of the campus, adjacent to the Green Hills business district where there are buildings of similar height and scale. Its location and height also provided an opportunity to add a rooftop event venue and deck as an added amenity space.
