Sunrise Assisted Living: Lincoln Park VSAIA Design Award 2005
The owner, Sunrise Senior Living,
sought the design of an assisted living facility that would be a dramatic departure from almost all of the company’s other assisted living building, typically located in suburban areas. The exterior and interior design of this facility would convey a residential scale and character. In addition to bringing together occupants and their neighbors — physically and emotionally — the building needed to complement the surrounding Chicago architecture. The home would incorporate 45 resident units in its assisted living portion, and 15 units in a state-of-the-art program designed for those suffering from Alzheimer’s and other memory impairments.
Left above, night photography of same corner. Left , aerial photo with project site-assisted living project in orange and associated redevelopment in green. Above, entry corner at Clark and Schubert Street.
The goal
of the design was to make the senior residents feel comfortable in familiar surroundings. In looking for an appropriate design vernacular, the architects chose as a model a classic Chicago luxury hotel or apartment building. This sensibility was carried throughout every major aspect of the design, from the façade’s cornices and lintels to the interior spaces’ well-detailed embellishments and treatments.
The site
of Sunrise of Lincoln Park is located in the Lincoln Park district of downtown Chicago, Illinois. The site is on a once-deteriorated block that had housed a transit authority bus maintenance and storage facility, and is being redeveloped for mixed-use including retail, condominiums, single-family dwellings and senior housing. The facility is separated from the condominium/retail portion by a 30’ x 30’ courtyard, allowing the various elements to maintain distinct personalities, in keeping with the varied nature of the surrounding urban area.
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3 Season Porch
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Grand Foyer
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Club Room
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Bistro
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Bistro Bar
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Dining Room
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Private Dining Room
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Kitchen
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Staff Lounge
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Director & Marketing Suite
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Parlor
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Retail Space By Others
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Trash Room
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Circulation Administration/ Services Residential Rooms
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Resident Community Space
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First Floor Plan
The L-shaped floor plan features a corner turret, Sunrise’s
signature element, while also providing for a parking court on the first level and a garden on the second. The grand staircase at the entry ascends a two-story atrium to the second floor activity room and garden. The garden provides a pleasant view and green space for the residents, as well as cover for the parking court below. Sited on a corner, the building features sidewalk entrances through covered porches. The porches are fitted into notches in the façade, creating as a tripartite effect.
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Second Floor Plan
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Activity Room
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Covered Porch
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Garden
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Wellness Center
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Resident Laundry
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Life Skills
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Dining
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Living Room
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Quiet Room
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Spa
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Resident Laundry
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Resident Community Space Circulation Third Floor Plan
Administration/ Services Residential Rooms
The second floor
is the lowest floor with residential rooms. It is also provided with the largest informal gathering and activities spaces in the building, including the outdoor space at the garden porch. The third floor is designed specifically as a self-contained unit for those with memory impairments.
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Fourth Floor Plan
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Haircare
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Spa
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Resident Laundry
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Hospitality Room Hospitality Room Spa Resident Laundry Resident Community Space Circulation
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Administration/ Services Residential Rooms
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Fifth Floor Plan
The fourth floor contains mostly residential units, complemented by
a salon and spa. The fifth floor is treated as a penthouse floor with its own spa and hospitality room overlooking the corner and neighborhood. Even the corridors are treated as residentially finished and furnished components.
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Above, three-season porch at first floor. Left garden porch at second floor.
The constraints and opportunities of this facility was Sunrise Senior Living’s
first expansion into a major urban community were many. Although Sunrise had introduced various Victorian-style facilities in over 150 suburban communities, the program and branding of this new facility had to be reanalyzed and prioritized. Realizing that the urban residents would have their own needs and preferences, the firm’s designers worked closely with the facility’s care providers to identify program needs and aesthetic considerations. One key observation was that Chicagoans tend have a fairly sophisticated knowledge of and respect for architectural styles, evidenced by the significant and widespread influences of Wright and Sullivan. Based on these and other considerations, the firm developed a contemporary classical design for the façade to tie into the architectural context. It is worth noting that the architects were able to use the Chicago building code to the client’s advantage. They recommended that the five-floor building be designated a high-rise under the city’s building code, allowing us to include the atrium and open spaces in the egress paths. All safety measures required in a high-rise, including smoke removal, fire alarm systems, emergency generators and dual source sprinkler systems were implemented. But just as importantly, the designation allowed the atrium and garden areas would work together to create a welcoming entry space that seems both new and familiar.
Horizontal banding divides the building into three
levels. The main assisted living public spaces are on the first floor near the street entrances, and are convenient to ground-level parking and a dedicated elevator to the garage. The second floor is gathered with the first to compose the base level facade. The third and fourth floors are recessed in composition, allowing the fifth floor and its heavy cornice to complete the tripartitial effect.
In summary,
this assisted living
building provides the comfort and familiarity of a residential environment for occupants who require institutional support. This residential environment is held within a building shell responsive to its surrounding urban context and Chicago’s stylistic heritage.
8001 Braddock Road, 4th Floor Springfield, Virginia 22151 T. 703.426.9057 www.beeryrio.com