Arbor Oaks Project Incorporates Soothing Colors, Windows to Eliminate Institutional Look

Bryan, Texas–Architecture and interior design firm, Faulkner Design Group, has recently been chosen to provide interior design and planning services for Arbor Oaks at Crestview in Bryan, Texas.

Arbor Oaks-Independent Living Building

Arbor Oaks at Crestview is a two-phase project comprising of assisted living residences, skilled nursing accommodations, memory support suites and independent living apartments. The project will be completed in two phases. Phase 1 is slated to open in summer 2011 and will include 42 assisted living residences, 40 skilled nursing accommodations and 18 memory support suites. Phase 2, which consists of 92 independent living units, will open in the summer of 2012. Amenities including a formal dining venue, chapel, café and gift shop, library, fitness facility, creative art studio, and a full service salon and spa will be part of the project.

Methodist Retirement Communities is investing more than $50 million in this expansion of the current campus of Arbor Oaks. The developer is Greystone Communities and the project architect is Perkins + Will (Dallas office).

“The community will have a very traditional and southern vernacular in both the exterior and interior design, with light and airy colors being used to make the atmosphere soothing” Adrienne Faulkner, CEO, Faulkner Design Group, tells MHN. These elements, coupled with the use of natural light sources throughout the interior ensure that the project does not have an institutional look and feel. “We collaborated with Perkins + Will to create smaller “neighborhood” type areas with shorter, more single family-like hallways or corridors. Instead of placing the fire exit staircases at the end of the building/corridor, Perkins + Will placed them one unit in, making way for corner units with windows, as well as presenting a window at the end of the corridors. These strategies give the community a homelike, not institutional feel.”

Claudine Begay who is working on the project with Faulkner, adds, “The trend is to have flexibility in spaces and so in keeping with that we have a lot of common spaces where people can gather and meet. But functions of spaces can change over time, so we have to keep that in mind.” She goes on to say, “The healthcare part of the building is the first to be built out, but we want the same impression in terms of finishes, fittings etc. in that part of the community as in the independent living units.”