Page 178 - In Pursuit of the Sunbeam.indd

construction (i.e. adding on rooms) may also figure into your plans, and may allow you to expand living/dining rooms or reconfigure/add private bedrooms.
Decentralizing a common space to create several smaller household rooms brings excitement and increased commitment once you clearly see how to do it in the existing building.
Plan to carefully review with your architect all viable options within the existing plant. Once engaged, your architect can help identify and work around limitations. Look for changes that will most dramatically impact the elders’ quality of life while supporting your operational and organizational transformation.
Option 2: Start From Scratch – New Construction
If you have resources to build new households rather than renovating an existing structure, you can achieve a greater dimension of the Household Model. The scope of your project must be carefully defined. You will need to review with the project architect the level of construction quality you expect. Construction costs are impacted by three major variables; quantity (size/scale of the project), quality (impacting the aesthetic character and how well materials will hold up over time) and time (the speed of construction and schedules that must be met. If phasing is involved, it will affect time.) New construction enables you to avoid the constraints of an existing building. You have an empty canvas with paintbrush in hand!
Environmental Transformation 163
Conceptual arrangement of spaces in a new household model