You never think it will happen to you. When in the prime of one’s life, in the peak of health, it is hard to imagine needing skilled nursing care. Yet with life expectancy rising and a record number of people approaching their senior years, it’s inevitable that some of us will require nursing home care as our circumstances change.

A Skilled Nursing Facility (SNF), also commonly known as a nursing home, is a designated structure or group of structures that employs registered nurses in providing 24-hour care to people who can no longer care for themselves due to physical, emotional, or mental conditions regardless of age. A licensed physician supervises each resident’s care and a nurse or other medical professional is almost always on the premises. Most of these facilities utilize two basic types of services: skilled medical care and custodial care.

This design competition challenges students to investigate an existing SNF and develop an original set of design standards for renovation and new construction to meet today’s use of nursing facilities while improving on aspects of living conditions and work environment. The developed program includes a set of drawings, general programmatic constraints and recommended space requirements for redeveloping a real life case study located in Florida.

Sponsored by S.A.G.E. and administered by the American Institute of Architecture Students (AIAS), the program challenges students to learn about skilled nursing home design, specifically the challenges of breaking from the model of staff-centric operating philosophies to resident-directed care.

The objectives of this competition are to:

• Re-conceptualize the nursing home typology by using design precedents found within a typical home to create a new sense of place;
• Explore ways to implement the Rethinking Home: Programming Guidelines* to the fictitious competition case study, Pelican Point nursing home;
• Encourage and reward design excellence that integrates function, aesthetics, structure, details and fun; and
• Utilize opportunities provided by the site to offer a healing environment (i.e., natural sunlight, views and fresh air circulation).

Competition participants will have the opportunity to:

• Investigate methods for using both an existing structure and new construction materials with the goal of contributing to sustainability and a healthy environment;
• Change perceptions of what a skilled nursing facility can be;
• Develop an awareness of the new proposed guidelines* for designing long term care environments that move these projects toward resident-centered, long-term health care environments; and
• Redesign and renovate the case study facility, Pelican Point using the familiar architectural vernacular appropriate to the culture and climate of southern Florida.

*The guidelines can be downloaded here. Additionally, a set of drawings for Pelican Point can be downloaded here

Contact the AIAS Office to find out more about the competition or learn how you can sponsor your own student design competition.

1735 New York Avenue, NW
Washington, DC 20006

T 202.626.7472

F 202.626.7414

competitions@aias.org

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