IMEG provided MEP engineering design services for a new 52,000-sf Tapestry Group Senior Living facility in Wickliffe, Ohio. Before becoming a state-of-the-art senior living facility, the building was a former hotel which had been vacant since 2014. The hotel was at the end of its usable life and was fully remodeled and expanded for use as a senior living facility.

Focusing on individual needs and personalized care, the facility provides multiple lifestyle choices – independent living, assisted living, and memory care. The over five-acre community features 167 residential tenant rooms, offices, commercial kitchen, dining rooms, community kitchens/dining areas, game room, beauty shop, chapel, indoor/outdoor movie area, bistro, playground, and indoor garden.

The highlight of this facility is the re-purposed atrium. The revitalized atrium was utilized as a year-round climate controlled “outdoor” space. Half of the residents’ rooms face the atrium and the heating/cooling system utilizes outside air from that space and also rejects heat into it. The atrium system had to be designed to meet both the needs of the large public areas and also have the capability to match the variable needs from the tenant rooms.

The public areas located in the atrium include a large gathering area, full playground with artificial turf for visiting grandchildren, a bistro with café style seating, and a meander garden. IMEG integrated the ductwork in locations that made it unnoticeable to most observers and included the use of aircraft cable style hangers. The addition of large circulating fans keeps the tempered air evenly distributed.

With a four-story space with residents’ rooms looking into it, lighting type and placement had to be thoughtfully addressed. By using a variety of lighting, from chandeliers to streetlights, an intimate space was created so an evening in the park could be enjoyed without having light trespass to the residential rooms.

For this project, a mix of the existing equipment of various sizes and ages, and new equipment, was used to meet the renovated space requirements. With the mechanical and electrical systems providing comfort and brightness to the unique common areas, residents of the facility enjoy a high quality of life, and are able to spend time “outdoors” year-round.