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AUGUST 2016 | 89 Sundre Seniors' Supportive Living Facility PHOTOGRAPHY BY ALICE BARRY/COURTESY IBI GROUP Sundre Seniors' Supportive Living Facility by SUSAN PEDERSON O ne of the trickiest aspects of growing older is losing independence. The simple act of buying a friend a cup of coffee, for example, can be instantly stripped away once a senior moves into a care home that provides everything they need at their fingertips. The new residents of the Sundre Seniors' Supportive Living Facility (SSSLF), however, have numerous opportunities to maintain their independence as their needs change, thanks to the developer's forward-thinking design. "Our new facility has something we call Amenity Street," explains Sam Smalldon, CAO of Mountain View Seniors' Housing (MVSH), a not-for- profit organization established in 1960 and the developer of SSSLF. "There's a gift shop and a coffee shop, for example, so it's a nice feeling for our residents to have 20 bucks in their pocket and to be able to buy their friend a cup of coffee or pick up something at the gift shop, instead of losing that sense of interacting within their community." In fact, input from the greater community was a key factor in bringing the facility to fruition. Local residents had been lobbying for 10 years to have a seniors' complex that would allow them to age in place, instead of moving to the city as their need for care increased. The 104- unit facility does just that, with three housing options available on one site. Eighteen independent units, also known as life-lease housing, are specifically designed for independent seniors who want the flexibility and freedom to come and go as they please. Forty-six lodge living rooms have replaced the Foothills Lodge facility, as well as an additional 40 full-time care units that offer a caring community to those needing round-the-clock care and those living with dementia. The building, located on an eight- acre property, was designed for expansion should growth in the future justify enlarging the facility. "The image of nursing homes of the past is they are dreary and institutional," Smalldon adds. "We provide housing first, with care and supportive services and activities as desired by residents." Those inclined to get up and do things for themselves via scooter transportation will be thrilled at the facilities' indoor scooter garage, which features 15 plug-in parking stalls, accessed by individual remote- controlled four-foot-wide doors. Architect Marek Otwinowski, associate director of IBI Group who specializes in seniors' housing, notes it was important to build a homelike setting that fosters this type of independence, into the design of the facility. The life-lease suites for example, have their own separate attractive entrance and their own elevator, so they may still interact with their friends who require a higher level of care, but they also have a sense of living in a regular condo. The units where residents require more care are designed much like a big family house, with 10 rooms, each designed around sitting areas, a dining room and lounges, that can easily be secured to ensure the safety of residents. Daylight pours in throughout the facility, while outside, green spaces invite residents to linger and relax, and are secured without making residents feel like they are "locked in." This is accomplished by six-foot transparent glass barriers that are much less intrusive than a traditional fence. "In addition, the windows of these homes look out over greenery and mountains, not the parking lot or the streets, so they don't have as strong a desire to wander away," Otwinowski adds. "The focus is on providing a homelike setting throughout, such as on Amenity Street where there is a dining room, library, bistro, TV room and exercise room." Enhancing the homelike feel of each unit are the fixtures used in resident spaces versus common areas. Paul Fritz, associate at SMP Engineering, notes that electrical components prone to heavy usage in common areas are commercial grade, while individual units boast residential fixtures that will feel more familiar to residents. "These electrical components undergo less usage in an individual unit, and won't wear out as quickly, so why not make them more attractive and homelike to the people who are living in the space?" Fritz says. "Budget was a concern with this project, so it's important to use materials of the highest quality and have less of an institutional feel, while still maintaining the highest safety standards." Maintaining standards throughout the entire process was facilitated by extensive preplanning. The construction and management team worked together for months before the first spade of soil was turned, resulting in minimal change orders. Brian Antonsen, site supervisor at Shunda Consulting & Construction Management, says, "There were a lot of meetings with everyone before the drawings were ever done. The beauty of this is we knew a lot about the mechanical and electrical requirements, for example. So we could maximize ceiling heights in the corridors and deliver the other requirements of the owners, because we knew exactly what we were doing before we went in." Jeff Swart partner at Remedy Engineering agrees, adding that "the client made some good decisions and allowed us to address some issues that had been a factor at some of their other facilities." These included adding air conditioning to all the common areas and providing a heat recovery system, as well as an automated control system to better regulate the temperatures and enhance client comfort. Although the project is not LEED certified, Swart explains that an energy-efficient, speed- controlled boiler plant pump and a main ventilation system optimizes the energy efficiency of this project. "We had agreed with the client on the type of systems to put in mechanically, and they didn't cut anything. It was a fairly uneventful project, which is a good thing," he says. Indeed it is a great thing, delivered earlier than anticipated, thanks to mild winters during construction, and a stellar construction management team who are quick to praise the leadership of Smalldon, as well as project manager for the owner, Wayne Milaney. "It's pretty cool," says Milaney. "We had a wonderful team that we were able to pick at the beginning. That gave us an opportunity to succeed together and create a great project." A LOCATION 749 - 6th Street SW, Sundre, Alberta OWNER/DEVELOPER Mountain View Seniors' Housing PROJECT MANAGER Milaney Construction Services Ltd. ARCHITECT IBI Group CONSTRUCTION MANAGER Shunda Consulting & Construction Management Ltd. STRUCTURAL CONSULTANT MMP Engineering Ltd. MECHANICAL CONSULTANT Remedy Engineering ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT SMP Engineering TOTAL SIZE 115,000 square feet TOTAL COST $26.6 million 3:30 PM

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