Best practices.

Captivating the attention of our Judges, these projects are worthy of citation for best practices. Each project highlights the creativity of its project team in meeting its unique design challenges.

At a gross construction cost of just over $81 per sq. ft., JMM Architects Inc. counted on compact organization and proper scale to convey the residential effects of the Providence Retirement Home in New Albany, Ind. Judges cited its best design practice as the architectural expression--through the exterior scale of the commons--of the facility's quality of home-style living. Materials matter: Two brick facades flank the chapel, keeping the image and scale decidedly residential.

Though the architecture at Buckingham's Choice Retirement Community in Frederick, Md., is intended to complement resident programs, it also complements its surroundings. Our jurors lauded Perkins Eastman Architects PC for designing the community with a nod toward regionality, incorporating elements of local architectural vernacular on just $74 per sq. ft. The architecture of Buckingham's Choice establishes what many senior living communities sorely lack: a sense of place.

At Granite Ledges of Concord in N.H., a 90-bed assisted living center, two residentially styled features gained notice as best practices.

For starters, this is not your typical assisted living kitchen that's supposed to look like home but doesn't. This one looks-and feels- like home. Credit the designers at JSA Inc. who specified elements in residential scale and proportion, and in keeping with current home-design trends (planning an eating counter along the work island, for example). Judges liked this best practice for showcasing an example of appearing more residential, less institutional, in a functioning activity Space.

Judges also liked the large, simple, screened porch as a residential feature and social hub, taking special note of its exterior trim. The subtle, yet colorful, porch framing and variations in shingle cladding provide character while helping diminish building mass visually. The layering of mossy green, buttery blond, and warm brown hues makes for the type of appealing exterior our judges would like to see more often.

It is the fresh approach of the floorplan at the Chateau at Moorings Park, a skilled nursing replacement facility in Naples, Fla., that merits close attention as best practice. Judges noted strengths in two specific areas: unit plans and typical suites.

Burt/Hill Pollock Krieg Architects Inc. with Reese Lower Patrick & Scott designed three separate 30-suite villas, which function as six mini-nursing homes in 15-suite neighborhoods.

Though each suite is planned primarily for use as a private suite, the layout allows for a spouse or companion caregiver to live in. Adjacent pairs of suites connect as well to form larger living quarters upon request. Jurors lauded the proximity of the bath to living and sleeping areas and the use of roll-in showers as a standard feature.

Architecture: Nursing home

Image building

PROVIDENCE RETIREMENT HOME

New Albany, Ind.

Architect: JMM Architects Inc. (Columbus, Ohio); Project team: James Michael Milligan, Stephen A. Busch; Structural engineer: Jezerinac/Geers & Associates (Dublin, Ohio); MEP engineer: Heapy & Associates (Columbus, Ohio)

Architecture and interior design: Retirement/ Continuing care retirement community

Local vernacular BUCKINGHAM'S CHOICE RETIREMENT COMMUNITY

Frederick, Md.

Architect: Perkins Eastman Architects PC (New York);

Project team: Douglas P. King, AIA, AICP, principal-in-charge, Rick Yestadt, Jeff Kaye, Tony Beaumont, Stephanie Bassler, Mike Blakemore, Alex Nussbaumer, Jennie Smith; Interior team: Susan DiMotta, Kate Hanenburg

Residential features GRANITE LEDGES OF CONCORD

Concord, N.H.

Owner/Operator: Genesis Eldercare/Capital Region Health Services (Concord, N.H.); Architect/Interior designer: JSA Inc. (Portsmouth, N.H.); Design team: James somes, FAIA, principal-in-charge; Wm. North Sturtevant, CSI, project manager, Catherine Williams, senior Interior designer, Sandra Hodge, interior designer

Architecture: Nursing home

Innovative floorplan THE CHATEAU AT MOORINGS PARK

Naples, Fla.

Owner: Moorings Park (Naples, Fla.); Architect: Burt HIII/ Pollock Krieg Architects Inc. (Fort Myers, Fla.); Associated architect: Reese Lower Patrick & Scott (Lancaster, Pa.); Programming; innovage Inc. (New York); CON planning & coordination: Healthcare Research & Resources (Mount Dora, Fla.); General contractor: Boran Craig Barber (Naples, Fla.); Structural engineer: Jenkins & Charland Inc. (Fort Myers, Fla.); Mechanical/Electrical engineer: Tilden Lobnitz Cooper (Fort Myers, Fla.); Civil engineer: Wilson Miller Barton & Peek (Naples, Fla.); Kitchen planning: Foodservice Design Associates Inc. (Orlando, Fla.); Landscape architect: J. Roland Lieber, PA (Naples, Fla.)