Calhoun County Medical Care Facility

Location: Battle Creek, MI Project Area: 69,290 SF Year Completed: 2009

 

The Calhoun County Medical Care Facility addition and renovation project implements a philosophical change from an institutional model to the Eden Alternative model of elder care, which promotes the creation of interactive and enlivened residential environments that attend not only to residents’ physical well-being, but also to their emotional and social needs. An important component of this philosophy is the decentralization of activity spaces to create smaller, more personal environments.

 

To accomplish this, the existing facility, which encompassed residential units, adult day care, and physical therapy spaces, received refreshed interior finishes along with a large two-story addition at the front of the building and smaller one-story additions at the ends of the remaining wings. The increased space and reconfiguration provide a higher number of single-occupancy private rooms arranged in “neighborhoods,” each with its own identity and social center. A “main street” was developed at the intersection of the resident wings, with gift shop, beauty shop, café, and day rooms to create areas for social exchange and interaction. Landscaped courtyards were established between all of the neighborhood wings, providing regular interaction with the outdoors.