A Friendly Place to Retire
Retirement Community Prepares for Baby Boomers
By K. Robert Wendel

A Tempe retirement community is readying itself for the first wave of retiring baby boomers with plans to expand and update its campus.

Nearly 25 years after they built the original campus, crews from The Weitz Cos. are installing the final touches on a new health center and assisted- living quarters at Tempe's Friendship Village.

Work on the 155,000-sq.-ft. project began in January 2003, with the first, $50 million phase completed in June. A second, $30 million phase is scheduled to start this summer and finish in spring 2006. That phase consists of a five-story building with an underground parking lot.

advertisement

The retirement community offers everything from minimally assisted living arrangements all the way to end- of- life care through a contract with Hospice of the Valley. Other components include an Alzheimer's wing and a skilled nursing division.

The new project features a total of 166 beds, with 24 beds designated for Alzheimer care and 14 beds for hospice care. The rest are skilled nursing.

"Baby boomers are demanding choice," said Peg Cervantes, a senior associate with OWP/P Architects Inc. of Chicago. "It's not about warehousing anymore. It's really about giving seniors as much choice as possible while still providing a safe and nurturing environment."

The building's design is a key aspect. The three-story, above-grade building features a below- grade level with open gardens where seniors can enjoy the weather or even work in the garden as part of therapy.

The lower- level gardens are ringed with exercise facilities, a cafeteria, activity rooms and lounges where natural day lighting and large glass curtain wall systems create an open and airy feeling.

The Alzheimer's wing features a secure, gated garden so patients can't wander off.

"One of the things they lack right now are larger activity rooms," said Michael Thieme, a designer with the Phoenix office of OWP /P Inc. "All the action takes place in the family rooms, the activity rooms or the dining rooms, so we wanted a lot of glass and natural light."

Every room has a window, with the majority of rooms designated as private.

Sitting on a slab-on-grade foundation with stem footers, the project uses load-bearing masonry, with hollow- core concrete floor planks with a built-up roof system.

Architects had to contend with city height restrictions as well as scaling the project to fit in with the surrounding residential neighborhood.

Designers strived to create a "homey" atmosphere at the new health center, with colorful way- finding methods, spacious rooms and bathrooms and high-end fixtures.
The project relies on a central boiler and chiller for heating and cooling, along with an evaporative cooler. Residents can adjust the thermostats in their rooms to their own comfort levels.

"One of the key aspects of this job is the central plant," said Weitz Cos. project manager Joshua Smith. "The design gives people more of a feeling that they are home rather than in a hotel with a window package unit."

Tempe-based University Mechanical installed the mechanical systems, and Energy Systems Design Inc. engineered the systems.

Crews from Maverick Masonry of Phoenix placed 130,000 units of ground- face concrete masonry block. Dry- stack stone masonry was also used throughout the project as an architectural accent.

"It's a real tight site to work on," Don Rondeau, an estimator with Maverick Masonry, said about the 3.5-acre site on Southern Avenue near the Loop 101 Freeway.

>Phoenix Market Holding its Own
>A Friendly Place to Retire
>Downtown Rising
>Riding the Rails