The architecture firm that designed the John C. Anderson Apartments — only the country’s second LGBT-friendly senior-living facility — will be recognized for exemplary work.
Wallace Roberts & Todd, LLC, will receive the American Institute of Architects Philadelphia chapter’s 2014 Award for Design Excellence.
The JCAA design, along with two other mixed-use/low-income projects of WRT’s, received the distinction.
Joe Salerno, architect and senior associate at WRT and the project manager for the JCAA, noted some of the unique features of the design that set it apart from other senior-living centers.
“We organized the building so as to create a large, approximately 70-feet by 70-feet, courtyard, with hopes that it would become both the visual and social focal point of the entire community,” Salerno said. “The courtyard includes a larger hard-paved area for group activities as well as some small-scale reading nooks tucked into garden zones. There are also areas reserved for community gardening and other hands-on activities. It’s rare to visit JCAA without seeing several of the residents in the courtyard space.”
The exterior façade is also especially inviting, he said.
“Many senior buildings quickly take on the feel of protected compounds, having little interaction with the outside world. We wanted to do whatever we could to try to avoid that at JCAA, to be sure that our LGBT seniors were not hidden from the broader community, and to encourage the occasional use of ground-floor spaces as more of an intergenerational neighborhood hub. The glassy treatment of the main entrance area is intended to provide an enticing view through the ‘hotel lounge’ and beyond to the sunny courtyard area.”
The fifth-floor roof terrace provides an alternate outdoor space for residents.
“This special spot at the east end of the building was originally conceived as a sun deck but seems to have developed into the place for sunrise yoga, as well as the quiet spot for late-afternoon wine and cheese, and lots of ornamental gardening too,” Salerno said.
WRT’s Paseo Verde, a low-income housing initiative near Temple University, will also receive an award, as will its plans for the new Latino Cultural Community Center at Taller Puertorriqueño. Awards will be presented at an Oct. 20 celebration.