Setting A New Design Standard for Memory Care Communities
The Cordwainer is among the first memory care communities nationwide to incorporate Tovertafel. This unique system uses sensor-supported light projection to help seniors with dementia engage in specially designed interactive games, with proven benefits to physical, cognitive, social, and emotional well-being.
Located in a tranquil setting less than an hour from Boston, The Cordwainer was designed for developer and owner-operator Anthemion Senior Lifestyles. “The Cordwainer’s development drew on years of researching advanced memory care concepts, which we then infused into the strategic brainstorming with the design team,” says Tamilyn Liesenfeld, co-founder of Anthemion Senior Lifestyles. “When we first visited this thickly wooded property, we thought it was a perfect setting to create a community that blends with local nature and reimagines how individuals can thrive in a setting created with the latest research in memory care and biophilic design.”
TAT’s design for The Cordwainer reflects this innovative focus and recognizes how natural light can have a significant impact on dementia by improving mood and psychoactive symptoms common to the disease. Key solutions include an expansive skylight above the building’s centrally located two-story atrium sensory garden, providing the indoor courtyard with light and serving as a socialization hub.
Every element at The Cordwainer reflects a commitment to industry-leading memory care, blending a sophisticated, modern design sensibility with resident-centric functionality. A range of spaces – including dedicated activity rooms, workshops, and informal living spaces – support the community’s proprietary dementia therapies programming called The Learned Environment, which incorporates curriculum-based activities involving art, music, and foreign language to stimulate cognitive function.
The community provides 47 single units and seven companion suites with private bedrooms. A first-floor sunroom offers safe access to the outdoor courtyard with a water feature, pergola, gardening beds, and a putting green. Amenities include the second level’s rooftop terrace, a wood workshop, a barbershop and salon, a fitness center, a private visitation suite for families, and performance and rejuvenation centers.
“The therapeutic benefits of natural light have been shown to improve cognition and quality of life for residents living with dementia. Our design solution integrates lighting and circulation strategies, dividing the building volume into four programmatic activity zones, each with its own lighting solution linked by a continuous circulation path. This looping circulation organizes and centralizes core program spaces, segregating them from the more private residential entries.
1-1/2 story north-facing light monitors and floor-to-ceiling windows bring in natural light to the activity zones of these core program spaces, the largest of which is an octagonal skylight centered over an interior two-story garden. The skylight glass is fritted to filter the direct sunlight into the second-floor seating area and the garden spaces below. Within the resident rooms, the focus is creating a calming, familiar residential environment with amber-colored night lights in the bathrooms, switched outlets for task lighting, and oversized windows with draperies for a familiar, home-like approach to lighting control.”
– Anthony Vivirito AIA LEED AP, Associate