St. Ignatius Nursing Home Renovations

Short-Term Rehab Indoor-Outdoor Connections  Residential Design  Affordable Care Award Recipient

St. Ignatius Nursing Home is a not-for-profit long-term care community that has historically provided care to low-income elderly under the ministry of the Felician Franciscan Sisters.  With little to no renovation over the years and a desire to add short-term rehabilitation to their services offerings, the challenges was to create a state-of-the-art rehabilitation unit with a warm and friendly home like environment, remaining within the confines of the long-term care wing in the existing building. The space planning posed many challenges from providing privacy for each resident to updating bathrooms for ADA compliance. In the new plan, pods were created to house four residents and physical walls were built to divide the rooms for privacy.  Windows, with translucent glazing, were inserted in the walls between resident rooms, as well as the rooms and the corridor, to allow natural light to permeate deeper into the spaces. The individual rooms were decorated with unique yet complementary colors to provide individuality to each space. Each room hosts amenities such as air temperature control, a flat screen television, new beds, wardrobes and other furniture.  The shared bathrooms were enlarged and centrally located for equal access, without traversing another resident’s private space.

An open plan living and dining rooms were created and relocated to the south side of the building to maximize the sunlight within the space.  A serving pantry was added to provide A-La-Carte food service for the rehabilitation residents.  The colors of the space are soft and inviting allowing for an uplifting and healing environment.

Simultaneously while the rehabilitation renovations were being completed, a new solarium and a fully accessible outdoor garden was added, fulfilling a dream for indoor-outdoor connections and easy access to an existing outdoor area that was large but unaccesable. The new garden provides accessible walking paths, water features and landscaping to attract butterflies and birds.  The new solarium provides a four-seasons room for all residents with a full view of the newly created garden.

LRAI’s resident room renovated room design received the Silver Award in the 2018 Environments for Aging Remodel/Renovation Competition.