Pittsburgh, PA — Top international design and architecture firm Perkins Eastman is pleased to announce that the Perkins Eastman Research Collaborative recently completed the “Design for Aging Review 10 Insights and Innovations: The State of Senior Housing” study for the American Institute of Architects (AIA). The results of the comprehensive study reflect the changing demands and emerging concepts that are re-shaping today’s senior living industry. The 250-page DFAR10 Insights Study is available on the AIA Design for Aging website www.aia.org/dfa.
Principal-in-Charge of the project Stefani Danes AIA, LEED AP says, “The report is a resource for professionals by providing information that can be used for evidence-based design. It addresses AIA Design for Aging’s goals of fostering design innovation and disseminating knowledge to enhance the built environment and quality of life for older adults.”
More than 90 leading-edge senior living projects from around the country, as well as several international projects, were evaluated to identify commonalities that reflect larger-scale trends and unique features that challenge those trends. Topics include:
- The growing prevalence of the household model
- The fact that more projects are offering a contemporary/modern feel
- Subtle innovations that may be signaling growing industry trends
- The recognition that more and more projects do not fit the traditional
- continuing care approach—suggesting a changing market perspective
Emily Chmielewski of the Perkins Eastman Research Collaborative, who led the research on the project, notes “The DFAR10 Insights Study will help the design community raise the bar on the quality of design solutions provided to the senior living industry as a whole.”
Perkins Eastman received a grant from the AIA to conduct this study, with matching funds provided by Perkins Eastman. This study is the second consecutive design award competition cycle that the Perkins Eastman Research Collaborative was engaged to perform the data analysis.
About the Perkins Eastman Research Collaborative
The Perkins Eastman Research Collaborative assists clients and designers in creating better-built environments by pushing the boundaries of professional knowledge and improving architectural design through innovative practice-based research. Through active engagement in dialogue, reflection, and design demonstration, the collaborative supports the development and exchange of pioneering ideas by helping designers and clients become more knowledgeable by challenging assumptions and by testing ideas.
About Perkins Eastman
Perkins Eastman is among the top architecture and design firms in the world. The firm prides itself on inventive and compassionate design that enhances the quality of the human experience. Because of its depth and range, Perkins Eastman takes on assignments from niche buildings to complex projects that enrich whole communities. The firm’s practice areas include education, housing, healthcare, senior living, corporate interiors, cultural institutions, public sector facilities, retail, office buildings, and urban design. In 2010, Perkins Eastman announced it would merge with Ehrenkrantz Eckstut & Kuhn Architects (EE&K), significantly strengthening both practices with an international total of nearly 600 employees. Perkins Eastman provides award- winning design through its domestic offices in New York, NY; Boston, MA; Arlington, VA; Charlotte, NC; Chicago, IL; Oakland, CA; Pittsburgh, PA; and Stamford, CT; and internationally in Dubai, UAE; Guayaquil, Ecuador; Mumbai, India; Shanghai, China; and Toronto, Canada.
Related Stories
Building Owners | Jul 12, 2023
Building movement: When is it a problem?
As buildings age, their structural conditions can deteriorate, causing damage and safety concerns. In order to mitigate this, it’s important to engage in the regular inspection and condition assessment of buildings for diagnosis.
Mass Timber | Jul 11, 2023
5 solutions to acoustic issues in mass timber buildings
For all its advantages, mass timber also has a less-heralded quality: its acoustic challenges. Exposed wood ceilings and floors have led to issues with excessive noise. Mass timber experts offer practical solutions to the top five acoustic issues in mass timber buildings.
Multifamily Housing | Jul 11, 2023
Converting downtown office into multifamily residential: Let’s stop and think about this
Is the office-to-residential conversion really what’s best for our downtowns from a cultural, urban, economic perspective? Or is this silver bullet really a poison pill?
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 10, 2023
California updates building code for adaptive reuse of office, retail structures for housing
The California Building Standards Commission recently voted to make it easier to convert commercial properties to residential use. The commission adopted provisions of the International Existing Building Code (IEBC) that allow developers more flexibility for adaptive reuse of retail and office structures.
Laboratories | Jul 10, 2023
U.S. Department of Agriculture opens nation’s first biosafety level 4 containment facility for animal disease research
Replacing a seven-decade-old animal disease center, the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility includes the nation’s first facility with biosafety containment capable of housing large livestock.
Adaptive Reuse | Jul 6, 2023
The responsibility of adapting historic university buildings
Shepley Bulfinch's David Whitehill, AIA, believes the adaptive reuse of historic university buildings is not a matter of sentimentality but of practicality, progress, and preservation.
Market Data | Jul 5, 2023
Nonresidential construction spending decreased in May, its first drop in nearly a year
National nonresidential construction spending decreased 0.2% in May, according to an Associated Builders and Contractors analysis of data published today by the U.S. Census Bureau. On a seasonally adjusted annualized basis, nonresidential spending totaled $1.06 trillion.
Architects | Jul 5, 2023
Niles Bolton Associates promotes Jeffrey Smith, AIA, to President and C. Cannon Reynolds, AIA, to Managing Director
Niles Bolton Associates (NBA), a leading architecture, planning and design firm, announces leadership changes as a part of its ongoing commitment to future growth. Current Executive Vice President, Jeffrey Smith, AIA, has been named President and C. Cannon Reynolds, AIA, has been named Managing Director effective June 30, 2023.
Mixed-Use | Jun 29, 2023
Massive work-live-play development opens in LA's new Cumulus District
VOX at Cumulus, a 14-acre work-live-play development in Los Angeles, offers 910 housing units and 100,000 sf of retail space anchored by a Whole Foods outlet. VOX, one of the largest mixed-use communities to open in the Los Angeles area, features apartments and townhomes with more than one dozen floorplans.
Office Buildings | Jun 28, 2023
When office-to-residential conversion works
The cost and design challenges involved with office-to-residential conversions can be daunting; designers need to devise creative uses to fully utilize the space.