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M A R C H 2 0 2 2 | 49 Clifton House R EN D ER I N GS CO U RT E S Y T H E B R EN DA S T R A F FO R D FO U N DAT I O N LT D. CLIFTON HOUSE by ROBIN BRUNET W hile great strides have been made in improving the quality of seniors living care environments, the challenge remains to minimize their institutional nature without compromising service. Calgary-based Clifton House from The Brenda Strafford Foundation Ltd. (BSF) does just that – taking seniors living to a new and desirable level. Clifton House, a new four-storey, 175-resident supportive living and long- term care program including those with dementia, is the first step towards realizing the Foundation's master plan of Clifton Village, an integrated cam- pus of care and wellness for seniors in the greater Forest Lawn community. The original Clifton Manor long- term care facility was built in 1972. "We acquired the building in 2010," says foundation president and CEO Mike Conroy. "It had mostly semi-pri- vate rooms and not many amenities, and although our initial plan was to replace it, we had the idea of making the replacement a springboard for a village of care, a community that over the years would be built on adjacent property." Not only was this a radical rethink- ing of what seniors care could be, but the way the Foundation and MTA Urban Design Architecture Interior Design Inc. developed the concept was unique. MTA principal Diane Sawa explains, "Since Forest Lawn is a distinctly multicultural community we decided to celebrate this in Clifton House, and an enormous amount of research with BSF and com- munity/end-user input took place to get everything exactly right." MTA principal Jeff Lyness adds, "Mike Conroy was convinced that the back of house operations shouldn't interfere with any of the public areas, in order to maximize the residential ambiance. So we explored an enor- mous amount of design details and produced a lot of iterations." A major design element of Clifton House was influenced by the fact that the tight building site wouldn't allow for elaborate landscaping. "So we cre- ated internal patios and courtyards with a secured dementia garden on the ground floor," Sawa says. "This unique solution offered key advan- tages such as clear views for the staff and the opportunity for natural shad- ing, the latter thanks to the patios being staggered and carefully placed." The use of different colours and patterning throughout Clifton House's exterior and interior would reflect the multicultural heritage of Forest Lawn, and nowhere is this celebra- tion of diversity more joyous than on the interior patios. "When the proj- ect is finished, it has been proposed that Asian lanterns will decorate one patio, Indian umbrellas will aug- ment another, a Buddha will be located on the dementia floor, and so on," Sawa says. "Such augmen- tation can be easily changed over time as the community evolves." This is in addition to the design team tailoring portions of the inte- rior to suit specific needs. "The dementia wing has interactive corri- dors and a starry night corridor with twinkling lights that create a very therapeutic experience," Lyness says. "Elsewhere, in the KINDD [Kindness, Independence and Nurturing for Developmentally Disabled] neigh- bourhood for adults aging with a developmental disability in long-term care, we emphasized movable acous- tic wall panels to safely divide open spaces, as many residents enjoy activ- ity but seek privacy at the same time." Conroy illustrates the degree to which input was sought. "Early in the design stage we built a mock up of a room so residents could give us feedback on flow, colours, the height of switches, etc.," he says. "Then, after Clark Builders began construc- tion in March of 2020, the room was rebuilt based on their recommen- dations, and another walk-through was conducted. Among other ben- efits, this was a great money saver as it minimized change orders." As Clifton House nears comple- tion, Conroy is happy that "with a visitor corridor and an out-of-sight support corridor, the residential rooms are truly residential in ambi- ance, and mostly private. Plus, there is access to the outside on every level." Long-range plans for Clifton Village include affordable housing for indepen- dent seniors, a seniors centre to support people staying in their homes, a high school classroom dedicated to intergen- erational programming, and a children's day care – all combined to enhance a lively and joyful aging environment. As for Clifton House, Lyness says, "The degree of design success we achieved wouldn't have been pos- sible without The Brenda Strafford Foundation. They had a strong vision and tons of ideas, and we thoroughly enjoyed collaborating with them." A LOCATION 907 47th Street SE, Calgary, Alberta OWNER /DEVELOPER The Brenda Strafford Foundation Ltd. ARCHITECT MTA Urban Design Architecture Interior Design Inc. GENER AL CONTR ACTOR Clark Builders STRUCTUR AL CONSULTANT TRL & Associates Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Martensite Group Inc. ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT WSP GEOTECHNICAL CONSULTANT Jubilee Engineering Consultants Ltd. TOTAL SIZE 167,000 square feet TOTAL COST $45 million

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