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Mayport Distribution Facility by Godfrey Budd Villa Marie – Assisted Living Facility by Robin Brunet COURTESY FERRARI WESTWOOD BABITS ARCHITECTS LOCATION 10 Carrington Drive, Red Deer, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER Covenant Health ARCHITECT Ferrari Westwood Babits Architects GENERAL CONTRACTOR Clark Builders STRUCTURAL/ELECTRICAL/CIVIL CONSULTANT MPE Engineering Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Sterling Engineering, Inc. LANDSCAPE DESIGN Earthlings Inc. TOTAL SIZE 89,000 square feet TOTAL COST $30 million A notable evolution in senior care is taking place in Alberta courtesy of Covenant Care, a non-pro�it partner in the province's health system. A member of the Covenant family (and rooted in the 150-year legacy of Catholic health care in Alberta), Covenant Care contracts Covenant Health to provide executive and corporate services. A c t i n g u p o n t h e p r o v i n c i a l government's mandate to expand the continuing care sector in Alberta over the next �ive years to 1,000-plus beds a year, Covenant recently unveiled the �irst of three pilot projects intended as demonstration models for a new approach to senior living: Villa Marie, an 89,000-square-foot, 100-bed home in Red Deer. The two-storey wood-frame facility features six suites for couples, 70 single bedrooms and 24 single bedrooms for those needing specialized dementia care. Bariatric care rooms with lift equipment are also on site for larger residents. The overall concept of Villa Marie is that the facilit y contains every- thing seniors need to age in place. Every room of Villa Marie contains a barrier-free shower and a kitchenette with a sink, a microwave and a mini fridge. Small � lourishes abound, such as memory boxes built into the wall outside each unit so residents can per- sonalize their space. Amenities include spa/tub rooms, a chapel, hair salon, multi-purpose rooms, four large dining rooms, outdoor courtyards, patios and numerous sitting areas. Covenant Health made a conscious decision to locate Villa Marie in the new residential neighbourhood of Clearview and adjacent to shops, services, restau- rants, parks and an elementary schoolw. "Villa Marie is oriented to engage with the neighbourhood and encourage those possibilities; it's located across the road from Clearview Market," says Christopher Babits, principal at Ferrari Westwood Babits Architects. "Residents will be able, with assistance, to access nearby shops; but because of the limited mobility of many residents, we were also mindful to design Villa Marie to be open and inviting to everyone – instead of closed off to the public." T h i s e x p l a i n s t h e e x t e n s i v e amount of gla zing and large low- si l l w i ndow s i n t he r oom s t h at ma ke t he mos t of nat u r a l l ig ht . "Also, to encourage a healthier work environment, we extended interior and exterior glazing into staff-only areas, including meeting rooms, staff rooms, laundr y rooms, ser veries and the commercial kitchen," says Babits. Attention to detail was driven to provide the most pleasant residential interior possible. "We tried to avoid the typical dark ended corridors common to many seniors' facilities by locating stairs off to the side of the corridors and creating an inviting, naturally-lit seat- ing area there instead," says Babits. Another way of making Villa Marie seem like an integral part of the communit y was to group the com- mon amenities such as the café, cha- pel, meeting rooms and hair salon around the entrance of the facility. "This promotes a sense of welcoming and generates an energy," says Babits. "To help support this positive effect, we designed everything in the entrance area to be double volume in height and brought some of the exterior materials inside." The main challenge for Babits and his team was to walk the thin line between providing care aides, straightforward surveillance of the resident rooms and, at the same time, ensuring residents have a sense of privacy. "We also used wall sconces, curio cabinets, a change in �looring and framed recessed entrance- ways to make the door a true threshold and private address," says Babits. Equal care was taken in selecting high-grade �inishes that are durable yet warm and retain a "homey" appeal. Wood-detailed ceilings and screens, cork and wood-look commercial grade vinyl plank � looring and PVC-backed Powderbond carpet were chosen as easily-maintained products that would endure a lot of wear and tear. Carla Whitehead, project manager for Clark Builders, presided over the construction process that began in May of 2012. Her colleag ue, A ndy C ow l i s h a w, s a y s , " wo o d f r a me projec t s w it h lot s of dr y wall are something we're ex tremely good at doing , so t he ac t ual const r uc t ion was relatively straightforward. Our biggest problem was labour. Alberta is in the middle of a boom, so it was tough getting the best drywallers and especially framers." Villa Marie has been sited to accom- modate a 44-bed addition, and land has been set aside for future growth. Cowlishaw found work ing w it h Covenant Care to be gratifying. "They were very up front and supportive." B a b i t s e c h o e s C o w l i s h a w 's sentiments. "It's not often when such a strong uni�ication of purpose occurs, but it did with Villa Marie, and it cer- tainly shows in the �inished product." ■ Villa Marie – Assisted Living Facility 96/ JUNE 2014 p.96-97VillaMarie_Mayport.indd 96 14-06-03 10:33 AM