By Martin Kimmel
For too long, the senior living industry has approached design with a troubling assumption — older adults want old-looking things. Colonial windows. Shutters. This type of traditional architecture underestimates residents’ sophistication and their preference for contemporary living. Even more problematic is the cookie-cutter strategy, which involves replicating the same senior living community design across different markets in the pursuit of efficiency.
These approaches fail on multiple levels. This type of design patronizes residents, alienates communities and ultimately hurts business. When a new senior living community appears, feeling generic or institutional, it reinforces the stigma many people feel about leaving their homes. Seniors don’t just want to maintain independence — they want a sense of belonging.
At Kimmel Architecture, we’ve built our practice around a different philosophy. Root every community’s design in the heart and soul of its location. This isn’t about adding superficial regional touches. It’s about making architectural choices that genuinely respond to local context, character and history. This mindset yields a number of benefits.
Contextual Design Results in Market Advantage
From a purely business perspective, this intentional approach to design accelerates occupancy growth.
That first impression is everything. When marketing materials are released, renderings that clearly fit their setting generate more interest than generic architectural designs. When tours begin, prospects walking through the door for the first time should experience an immediate positive feeling.
We’ve learned from higher education that consumers often subconsciously make decisions in the first 30 minutes, even if they spend hours evaluating options. Students choose colleges based on how the campus makes them feel. The same holds true for families choosing senior living. If the environment captures their hearts on that first visit, they’re essentially sold. If it doesn’t resonate emotionally, even superior amenities or lower costs may not be enough to compensate.
The faster a new or renovated community fills, the better its financial viability. Every month spent below capacity represents lost revenue and delayed return on investment.
Design that connects with place also provides powerful advantages throughout the entire development cycle. During public presentations and municipal approvals, showing respect for local character builds goodwill.
Bigger Budgets are Not Necessary
Creating contextual design doesn’t require bigger budgets. It requires intentionality from day one.
Most locales have something distinctive about their character that can serve as a design catalyst. Is the community in a former industrial area? Reference that heritage with materials and architectural language that nod to that history while maintaining residential warmth. Mountain region? Let the environment inform material choices and building forms. Agricultural area? Consider barn-inspired elements and pastoral color palettes.
We’ve designed five distinct senior living communities, each rooted in its respective location, and they all cost essentially the same to build. The key is designing with context from the beginning, rather than creating a generic box and trying to dress it up later with decorations and add-ons. When there needs to be a budget reconciliation, the first things to go in the “value engineering” process are the non-essential items and the decoration add-ons. If the localized design is embedded from the beginning and not added later, it cannot be stripped and will cost less to begin with.
The trick is to use more expensive materials and details judiciously. For example, employ just enough stone to convey quality without overwhelming the space, and add just enough architectural articulation to create interest without going overboard. It’s like cooking — the right amount of salt makes the dish, but you don’t need to empty the shaker.
Achieving Timelessness
Contextual design offers another significant advantage. It ages better. Look at multifamily housing from different decades, such as the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, and you can immediately identify when each property was built. Hotel chains showcase the same phenomenon. Every development built within a given era looks alike because it followed current trends.
When design connects to places rather than trends, it becomes more timeless. The location doesn’t change, so architecture that is responsive to the local surroundings doesn’t go out of style. This has long-term implications for property value, renovation costs and continued marketability.
Break the Pattern
The industry needs to move past the assumption that repetition creates efficiency. In some businesses, such as fast food, standardization works. But senior living isn’t McDonald’s. Each facility serves a specific community with its own character, history and preferences. A building that makes sense in suburban Phoenix shouldn’t resemble one in rural Pennsylvania.
Residents and their families notice the difference. When design demonstrates care for the local context, it communicates respect, not just for architectural integrity, but also for the people who will live there. It says, “We’re part of this community.”
Some of our seniors housing clients seek us out specifically for this approach. Others need convincing, but once they understand that contextual design doesn’t cost more and offers multiple advantages, they’re typically enthusiastic. There really is no downside — not financially, not operationally and not from a marketing perspective.
The conclusion is simple. Senior living communities should be places people are proud to call home, not institutions residents reluctantly resign themselves to. The most successful communities are those that feel rooted, familiar and authentic. And one of the most straightforward ways to achieve that is designing buildings that genuinely belong where they’re built.
Martin Kimmel is certified with the National Council of Architectural Registration Boards and the American Institute of Architects. He is the founding principal and chief creative officer of Kimmel Architecture (formerly Kimmel-Bogrette Architecture + Site), a nationally recognized architecture and interior design firm headquartered in suburban Philadelphia. The firm specializes in serving mission-driven owners across the senior living, healthcare, education and government sectors.