BROOKHAVEN ASSISTED LIVING FACILITY

Lexington, MA

COURTYARD DINING ROOM ON LEFT, WRAP AROUND CORRIDOR ON FAR END & RIGHT

This existing CCRC, consisting of 200 independent living units and a 49-bed skilled nursing center, lacked a defined assisted living facility to accommodate the needs of its aging residents. With the local town zoning ordinance limiting any major site expansion to the general overall CCRC building complex, a compact plan, qualifying as a “minor change,” was developed. The first step was the conversion of the two (exterior facing) adjacent ILU’s into a new ALF’s common support area comprised of a community kitchen, dining room, living room, administrative offices and a 1-BRM ALF unit. From this core the new addition was constructed extending outward in an ‘L’ shape, wrapping around a newly created outdoor courtyard dedicated to this intimately scaled 9-unit household. Each unit contains a private shower/toilet and kitchenette.  

Residents orient to the outward side of the site from their rooms and to the internal outside courtyard from the single loaded glazed Corridor, which also serves as a sitting area and gallery. The creation of this small self-contained residential neighborhood, which strongly relates to the outside and utilizes two existing ILU’s converted to other uses, proved so successful that a Phase II assisted living household cluster was duplicated alongside.