KTGY Group, Inc., Architecture and Planning, recently announced its plans to provide architectural design services for a new $29 million, mixed-use affordable senior housing community that will be situated near downtown Portland, Oregon.
Construction on the project, which was developed by the Foursquare Foundation, is expected to begin in the spring of 2012 and last for approximately 18 months.
The Foursquare Senior Living community is intended to receive LEED Gold certification and will consist of 132 one- and two-bedroom apartments for active seniors aged 62 or older. Of those, 110 will be one-bedroom, one-bathroom homes, approximately 600 square feet each, and 22 will be two-bedroom, two-bathroom homes, each approximately 900 square feet.
The architectural plans include a contemporary look that will blend in with existing structures in the neighborhood. The building will feature a roof-top garden terrace that will double as an eco-roof storm water treatment system.
Residents will also be provided with common spaces both indoors and out, and there are plans for a future trolley line nearby the community.
“Being close to transit, access to dining and entertainment and the ability to enjoy some of the things that come with urban city life are all great amenities outside the building itself,” said KTGY Principal Manny Gonzalez, AIA, LEED AP and lead designer on the project. “Foursquare Senior Living community’s building amenities include those things that residents typically leave behind in single-family living and are not often found in an apartment community, such as: gardening, a ‘bark park’ with dog washing area, and workshop area for the do-it-yourselfers.”
Other features that will help the community earn LEED certification include “cool roof” technology to reduce the heat island effect, ENERGY STAR rated lighting, windows and appliances, water-saving fixtures and toilets, and a community recycling program, reduced exterior lighting which reduces light pollution and energy demand, and the use of low-emitting materials for interior finishes to reduce air contaminants.
Written by Alyssa Gerace