Archinect - News

Mæ's John Morden Centre wins the 2023 RIBA Stirling Prize

2023-10-19T19:57:00-04:00

The design for the John Morden Centre in Blackheath, London, by Mæ has just been announced as the winner of the 2023 Stirling Prize by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA).

The country’s new ‘Best New Building’ honor was bestowed to the 22-year-old firm’s redesign of the elder care facility located on the site of Grade I-listed Morden College, the original design for which dates to the 1690s and has been attributed to the period’s most significant architect, Sir Christopher Wren.

Photo: Jim Stephenson

The scope of the project involved creating a more sociable, physically active, and less isolating atmosphere in which residents can age in place gracefully. With dramatic effect, the overhaul consolidates formerly diffuse functions at the non-profit care facility into a series of brick pavilions that are connected by the construction of a central timber colonnade.

Photo: Jim Stephenson

A steeply pitched roofline gives the structure an austere but still inviting character. I...

International WELL Building Institute CEO Rachel Hodgdon on the rise of building health ratings

2022-08-29T14:16:00-04:00

The adoption of WELL Certification during the past eight years has been nothing short of incredible—the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) has just crossed the 4 billion mark for square footage enrolled to pursue WELL Certification, which means more than 36,000 spaces in more than 120 countries, serving more than 17 million people every day.

Rachel Hodgdon, President & CEO of the International WELL Building Institute (IWBI) and former U.S. Green Building Council Knowledge SVP and Center for Green Schools Director, shared with Multi-Housing News that the institute is currently in development of a single-family residential certification and will soon debut its new WELL Equity Rating, which Hodgdon says is “designed to empower organizations to create places where everyone can feel welcome, seen, and heard.”

Previously on Archinect: New WELL Performance Rating aims to recognize smart, healthy buildings

She also commented on the rise in green building certifications across all building types that has been recorded since the pandemic, providing statistics that support the organizational tide change that the updated rating systems are meant to engender.

“Not only has the WELL Health-Safety Rating been hugely popular, with 2.8 billion square feet enrolled since its launch just two years ago, but we are also finding that most of...

New England's first LGBTQ-friendly senior affordable housing development breaks ground in Boston

2022-06-27T14:12:00-04:00

A Boston development that’s billed as New England’s first LGBTQ-friendly senior affordable housing project broke ground Friday. The Pryde will convert the former William Barton Rogers Middle School in Boston’s Hyde Park neighborhood into 74 units of mixed-income housing for seniors.

The project is being led by developer Pennrose and local nonprofit LGBTQ Senior Housing, Inc. Boston-based architecture firm DiMella Shaffer carried out the facility’s design.

The development will maintain the original 1899 building, which has been vacant since 2015, and its two additions constructed in 1920 and 1934. The design includes multiple spaces for community programming, such as an art room, a classroom, an art gallery, and a multi-purpose room. The project also features a landscaped courtyard, a walking track, and outdoor seating. The exteriors and interiors will be renovated with materials and details in line with the school’s original character.

As noted by LGBTQ Senior Housing, there has always been a need for LGBTQ-friendly housing as seniors of this community are less likely to have children or a family network to support them. Funding for the project includes $3.8 million from the state Department of Housing and Community Development and $4 million from the City of ...

AIA publishes building adaptation recommendations for senior living facilities

2020-06-30T12:58:00-04:00

The American Institute of Architects (AIA) has unveiled its latest set of design adaptation strategies aimed at retrofitting existing buildings for post-pandemic use.

The latest guide, following up on strategies for schools, commercial facilities, and other spaces, is geared specifically for senior living facilities. A recent article in The New York Times explains that upwards of 43% of COVID-19 deaths in the United States are linked to nursing homes and that these casualties make up the majority of COVID-19 deaths in at least 24 states.

Previously on Archinect: AIA publishes re-occupancy strategies for schools, including 3D models Image courtesy of VMDO Architects.

These troubling statistics inform the urgency of the AIA's latest guidelines, which are geared toward the now-stalled "re-opening" phase of the pandemic while keeping an eye on a possible second or third wave of infections that could materialize in the fall during the traditional flu season. AIA's report states, "public...

Exercise parks for senior citizens are popping up in cities worldwide

2019-11-04T15:42:00-05:00

[A]lthough culture does play a role, it is park location, design and amenities that most influence use among senior citizens. “Often older adults feel not welcome in parks that are primarily designed for younger populations,” [Professor Anastasia Loukaitou-Sideris, a professor of urban planning at UCLA] says. “In other words, parks are not psychologically accessible to them.”

Inspired by the exercise “playgrounds” for senior citizens that are common in China, similar parks are being designed in cities worldwide. The article takes a look at the specific design elements that are needed to make these parks appealing to older adults, as well as why these parks should be more of a priority in urban design.

Hospitals build apartments to assist housing-insecure patients

2019-10-02T19:45:00-04:00

Legally and morally, hospitals cannot discharge patients if they have no safe place to go. So patients who are homeless, frail or live alone, or have unstable housing, can occupy hospital beds for weeks or months – long after their acute medical problem is resolved.

Hospitals with housing-insecure patients are getting creative in an attempt to both provide more holistic care for their patients while also reducing overall patient and hospital costs. It can cost upwards of $2,700 to spend a night in a hospital, according to a USA Today report, an amount that could be better spent on conventional housing options.

The trend comes as changes to federal guidelines dictating how tax-exempt hospitals channel their charitable contributions make investing in housing easier for these organizations. In Denver, for example, the Denver Housing Authority recently partnered with a the Denver Health Medical Center hospital to refurbish a mothballed building into 15 senior housing apartments.

Peg Burnette, the hospital’s chief financial officer, told USA Today, “This is an experiment of sorts. We might be able to help better their lives, as well as help the financials of the hospital and help free up capacity for the patients that need to come to see us for ac...

How can architects design housing for intergenerational families?

2019-06-27T15:30:00-04:00

Since the first known use the term 'nuclear family' in 1941 (defined by George Murdock as "a social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation and reproduction[,] contain[ing] adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, own or adopted, of the sexually cohabiting adults), the common American perception of what constitutes a normal living situation has required serious revision.

Not only has the narrow definition of a 'family unit' failed to describe a significant number of households in the United States; it has also halted construction of housing units which may serve to foster families which do not fit the above description.

Very few American cities, for instance, allow for the construction of homes for 'grandfamilies,' defined as "families in which children reside with and are being raised by grandparents, other extended family members, and adults with whom they have a close family-like...

Contested Elizabeth Street Garden redevelopment in NYC receives city council approval

2019-06-26T18:37:00-04:00

It’s official: After years of debate, heated public hearings, and lawsuits, the City Council has voted to approve the redevelopment of the Elizabeth Street Garden into low-income housing for seniors. The Council’s vote was unanimous, save for one abstention from councilmember Rafael Espinal, who objected to the loss of a community garden for housing.

The Elizabeth Street Garden redevelopment in Manhattan's Little Italy neighborhood has been especially contested since one beloved green space was supposed to make way not for the usual luxury condo towers but for badly needed affordable housing designed for low-income seniors with support from Habitat for Humanity.

Street view. Image: Curtis + Ginsberg Architects

As Curbed New York reports, "the new housing development, known as Haven Green, will have 123 affordable apartments for seniors (37 of which will be reserved for the formerly homeless), along with programming for its residents, ground-floor retail, and—as originally planned—around 8,000 square feet of open space."

Daniel Libeskind’s first New York City building may be affordable senior housing in Brooklyn

2018-03-29T13:16:00-04:00

Though he's called New York home for decades, Polish-American architect Daniel Libeskind has yet to see a NYC building to completion. But it appears that will soon change with his first ground-up building, a 197-unit affordable housing project on the Sumner Houses in Bed-Stuy. A January press release credits Studio Daniel Libeskind as the designer of the 10-story building-to-be, and a rendering shows an angular white-colored building done in the firm’s signature un-orthogonal style.

What makes an age-friendly city? Older citizens worldwide speak out

2016-04-28T20:35:00-04:00

“I believe it’s important for all ages to interact on a day to day basis. It...hopefully removes the labelling of people as ‘elderly’ or ‘past it’ and the self-fulfilling behaviours that are often generated by this.” “Cities need cross-generational activities...People living alone of whatever age can become isolated, lonely and then mental health problems can develop.” “Teach young people that we are not going to move over, nor do we have to.”

How do you define an age-friendly city? Share in the comment section below.

Nation's first combined housing complex for LGBT youth and seniors coming to Hollywood

2016-03-30T16:45:00-04:00

A first-in-the-nation complex to be built in Hollywood would house about 200 LGBT seniors and young adults on the same campus. Lorrie Jean, CEO of the the Los Angeles LGBT Center, which is building the $100 million complex, calls the two generation groups "the two most vulnerable parts of our community."

Midwest developer planning shared residence for seniors and young adults out of foster care

2015-02-02T14:14:00-05:00

The Vecino Group of Springfield, a developer based in Springfield, Missouri, is proposing intergenerational housing as a long-term sustainable solution. Inspired by a similar project in Portland, Oregon,, Vecino hopes to build a 60-unit affordable housing project in Tulsa, with 30 units designated for people aging out of foster care and 30 set aside for local seniors.[...] “Your hope is that your next door neighbor becomes your surrogate family. That would really be the hope”

Designing for Seniors and Soldiers, Toward a "Silver" Architecture

2014-11-11T14:25:00-05:00

In a recent opinion piece in The New York Times, geriatrician Louise Aronson advocated for a new type of building, one designed with an aging population in mind, which, she suggests, might be dubbed “silver” architecture. [...] It being Veterans Day, this article got me thinking about architect Michael Graves, who recently designed a pair of houses for returning soldiers that follow through on many of Aronson’s suggested parameters for silver design.