Much like senior living interior design and architecture design, today’s nursing home construction supports senior living’s dual purpose — to facilitate quality care and provide seniors a high quality of life. But how can you ensure your project contributes to these purposes while delivering you the best possible value? In this article, we provide you some tips to do just that.
1. Build for the continuum of care
If you’re having a construction team build or renovate your facility, you’ll want a long-term plan in place from the start of design and construction. In many cases, that means building with future expansion in mind. You’ll want special thought put into setting up the wiring, piping and utilities of your facility to extend beyond your initial building. If there’s a plan in place to remove or extend certain walls when you expand, your builder should examine ways to use inexpensive materials for those walls, since they’ll be removed anyway. And structural loads should be set up to accommodate more weight as you expand.
2. Build to all codes from the start of your nursing home construction project
Every state and municipality has different accessibility codes. One key to completing your nursing home construction project quickly and cost efficiently is looping inspectors into the process early and often. That way, you can ensure that every element of your facility is to code and spec. Make sure your builder has a plan in place to meet all pertinent codes well before construction begins.
3. Incorporate life cycle cost analysis in your nursing home construction project
In many projects, you want to build for the life of a facility. A good builder will provide a complete life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) that shows the long-term tradeoffs of using different materials and construction solutions. Complete with your LCCA, you should also receive a Sustainability Return on Investment (SROI) report that shows the short-term costs and long-term savings of using different energy-efficiency solutions. Using these reports, your builder should make it easy for you to make informed construction decisions.
4. Select the right team for the job
Taking into account the full lifecycle of your facility, the key to getting the best value is having the right team deliver it. Every job is different, and our belief has always been that the job is the boss. You’ll want a partner who can assemble the right nursing home construction expertise and team for your job, find best-value solutions and help you nail your timeline and budget.
5. Consider using Design-Build for your nursing home construction project
One of the most efficient ways to deliver a facility is through Design–Build, a single–source construction delivery method that aligns the design and construction elements under the same contract. When all the components of a project are facilitated through a single entity — your Design-Builder — it enables the project team to focus on the design and constructability of a facility, while delivering a project that reflects your vision. It also allows the Design–Builder to control costs and schedules, translating to faster builds, better quality and reduced risk for owners.
Savings are realized through early and continuous design reviews. Engineers, architects and contractors are integrated and work as a collaborative team with the owner, seeking best-value solutions throughout every phase of the project. Because of the many benefits Design-Build provides, we use it in more than 90 percent of our projects.
Learn the cutting-edge trends in senior living design and construction
This article is an excerpt from The Owner’s Guide to Senior Living Design and Construction. To download the full guide and get insights into the trends shaping senior living interior design, architecture and construction, fill out the form below.
