Page 176 - In Pursuit of the Sunbeam.indd

Environmental Transformation 161 envelope of the existing building. If you start anew, you have the luxury of
beginning with a blank piece of paper.
In either option, design should be in harmony with the Essential Elements of the Household Model as outlined in Chapter Four, and with the household anatomy and design principles offered in this chapter.
Option 1: Remodel an existing (traditional) nursing home into households
Fortunately, old institutional building designs are perfect for converting into the Household Model. If pre-feasibility analysis indicates renovation is your most financially viable approach, you will likely have solid options for conversion. Renovation may require some rethinking of how space is used to create home. Start the environmental planning analysis by using a basic floor plan (a copy of the fire evacuation plan will work) to label every room and space. Look at the words you’ve used to describe the spaces and their current functions and ask, “Would I find these rooms in my own home?”
There are probably labeled spaces that have no residential meaning or usage. Discuss which should be converted into residential living areas. Determine how open social spaces can be retrofitted to fit the Household Model.
Next, analyze the number and types of privacy zones you find on the plan by looking for four levels of activity: public, semi-public, semi-private and private. Color-coding your plan is a powerful way to understand where conflicts lie in providing residential privacy. An over abundance of one color (particularly the color for “public”) means you should evaluate patterns of resident circulation, activity and social interaction for changes that could enhance privacy.
Think of each hallway as a future household. Entrances and living spaces will need to be created or reorganized for each new house. You will not want to simply share with other households the existing larger rooms where everyone currently gathers. Part of the building that has a large room may have to be transformed into resident bedrooms, while resident bedrooms along hallways with no common spaces may need to be converted to social space. This allows for a front door, foyer, living room, dining room and kitchen for each house. In this case, “robbing Peter to pay Paul” is a sound strategy.
Remember, you are looking for opportunities to make houses out of hallways and a few large rooms. It will be easier than you think to conceptualize a living room, dining room, kitchen and other areas integrated and connected to a specific number of bedrooms. Minor new
“Our old institutional building designs are perfect candidates for conversion to the Household Model”