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DECEMBER 2017 | 57 Cherish at Central Park RENDERING COURTESY CHERISH COMMUNITY LIVING Cherish at Central Park by JESSICA KIRBY V ictoria's West Shore community has expanded to include an innovative senior living community that combines first-rate services with affordability and a deep sense of community. Cherish at Central Park is a 192,492-square-foot space designed by offering residential units, a restaurant and bistro, lounges, library and art studio, and a workshop with a number of personal service levels. The building site is located at the corner of Jacklin Road and Jenkins Avenue in downtown Langford, just steps from most amenities on flat, pedestrian- friendly throughways. Langford is B.C.'s fastest growing community, creating an engaging, community-focused arena for senior living. The property is bounded by streets on three sides, optimizing people- watching opportunities and accessibility options. The building is situated diagonal to the north, bringing optimal natural lighting to each residential space, and occupies a U-shaped footprint that hugs a south-facing courtyard. President and CEO Micky Fleming says the vision going into the project was to create a great place for people in an innovative, award-winning residence. Fleming presented the construction team with a "design binder" outlining Cherish's age-in-place design features, which have been incorporated into the building and grounds. "We are creating a farm-to-table menu, and many amenities in the building, but the key piece is that our residents participate in the evolution of our building," she says. The process required time and creativity to identify solutions to the project's unique requirements, says Fleming. "Our new building has two air space parcels, one for the church and one for 39 condominiums," she says. "The remainder parcel has 130 supportive housing rental suites in a prime location." Fleming speaks highly of the architectural team having completed two other seniors' projects with the team in the past. Don Brown with Jensen Group Architects brought this experience to the project along with his highly competent collaborative group. "This project had a number of challenges due to the nature of six- storey wood-frame construction," says Brown. "Extra care and attention to detail was required to ensure that the overall building shrinkage was taken into account." The mixture of condominium, rental units, amenity spaces and church spaces within the building created an interesting dynamic. The push and pull of the various program elements informed the design, resulting in distinct spaces that are part of a unified whole. The style of the building was informed by small scale residential design in Langford, says Brown. "The project is layered with residential motifs," he says. "Inclusion of such elements as pitched roofs, wood trellises and a predominately arts and crafts style ensure that, while the building is of a larger scale, it fits within the style and nature of the neighbourhood." AME Consulting Group provided full-service engineering consulting for design and construction administration of the project's mechanical systems including plumbing, fire protection, HVAC and controls. "Mechanical [HVAC] systems for the building include a combination of air handling units, distributed heat pumps, fan coil units and split- system air conditioning units," says Greg Tarnopolsky, mechanical consultant with AME. "Residential suites are ventilated by two-speed bathroom exhaust fans." Each suite also features a large, opening window. Heat pumps are used for mechanical units serving common spaces, including those for corridor pressurization and family dining areas. Due to the South Island's relatively mild climate, mechanical cooling is not provided in the resident suites. Domestic hot water is generated by two condensing-type natural gas-fired water heaters and a recirculation pump. As with all projects, and especially this one as a wood frame structure, there was a challenge fitting mechanical equipment within limited spaces. "We co-ordinated areas for mechanical equipment with the design team and had to make minor adjustments throughout the course of construction," says Tarnopolsky. "The biggest challenge, however, was for the construction team, and meeting the occupancy deadline." A phased occupancy approach was taken, which meant mechanical life safety systems had to be completed and commissioned before the whole building was deemed substantially complete. Keith N. Grant Landscape Architecture was responsible for the project's soft landscape, including onsite and offsite areas, and consulted regarding some elements of the hardscape design – in particular, the interior courtyard. Fruit and nut trees will be planted on the grounds for use in the kitchen. "The consultant team was a good team to work with," says owner Keith Grant. "We used an integrated design approach, which meant there were lots of co-ordination meetings and that made everything go smoother." The landscape component was specific and well-chosen, considering the building occupies most of the footprint. It involved premier frontages, along Jacklin Road and down Jenkins Avenue, and attractive planting with Magnolia grandiflora trees skirting the base of the building to provide street appeal. "It is a nice visual complement to the building," says Grant. "The boulevard spaces are typical tree placements for nice streetscapes on frontage." The overall vision was to create a landscape appropriate for the residents, with traditional design parameters including signature recognizable components like a mix of perennials, rhododendrons, and azaleas; plantings that bring colour to the space year round. Another of the landscape's main components is the interior south- facing courtyard, ideal for garden parties, raised beds, a water feature and a putting green. Its width was designed to optimize natural light intrusion in all residential units. This courtyard space is a largely hard surface area with paving features and banding in the concrete to bring visual appeal to the space. "My job was placement of pots and ornamental trees to give it some visual interest," says Grant. "The programming in this space is quite varied, and includes a dining component and mixed-use area where outside functions will occur." Although servicing some of the offsite areas proved challenging from a co-ordination point of view, the project team proved effective in bringing all components of the work together. Another interesting feature is a small community garden tucked in at the property's southern boundary, says Grant. Creating space for this area was key in fulfilling the building's mandate as it provides a therapeutic space for growing fruit trees and vegetables on site. Phase 1 of the project was complete in November, and Phase 2 is anticipated to be complete by mid-December. A LOCATION 917 Avrill Rd. Victoria, B.C. OWNER Cherish Community Living ARCHITECT Jensen Group Architects Inc. GENERAL CONTRACTOR Heatherbrae Builders STRUCTURAL/BUILDING ENVELOPE/ CIVIL CONSULTANT Herold Engineering Limited MECHANICAL CONSULTANT AME Consulting Group ELECTRICAL CONSULTANT RB Engineering Ltd. LANDSCAPE ARCHITECT Keith N. Grant Landscape Architecture TOTAL SIZE 192,492 square feet TOTAL COST $43.16 million 3:32 PM 11:55 AM 2:09 PM N. Grant.indd 1 2017-11-02 2:43 PM MR Crane Services.indd 1 2017-11-14 8:43

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