Buckner’s Green Houses to be a First in Texas
Buckner Retirement Services provides residents a warm and inviting place to call home and have created a new type of living space at Buckner Westminster Place in Longview. Buckner chose Johnson & Pace Incorporated to design their new living spaces, Green Houses. These 6,500 sf cottages combine the flexibility of living at home with the support of a licensed nursing facility. Construction on the $2.5 million project was completed in December of 2007.
The Green Houses were designed to feel like home, with a defined living area, dining room and kitchen, parlor area and private bed and bath suites for each resident. The design also includes a beauty shop, spa and laundry room in each Green House. Doug Camp, the project’s architect, said “I knew that if the facility felt like home, the residents would be much happier there.” Integrating the feel of home with the support of a nursing facility took some creative design. The Green Houses are equipped with electric patient lift systems and a complete nurse call system, and have an open design to allow easy movement throughout the home.
Green Houses, in essence, are designed to be warm, smart and green. Buckner’s facility offers a warm, friendly environment in which common living centers around a fireplace area called the “hearth room.” The Green House is made ’smart’ with several high-tech systems, including the electric ceiling lifts for ’no hands’ assistance and a state-of-the-art nurse call system. The addition of sunlight, plants and an outdoor garden completes the Green House by making it ’green.’ According to Pearl Merritt, Vice President and General Manager of Buckner Retirement Services, “The Green House at its core is a de-institutionalizing effort.” Buckner Westminster Place and Johnson & Pace saw eye-to-eye on this project and worked together to make a safe and comfortable home for the new Green House residents.
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