The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) recently named Waterstone at Wellesley, a luxury senior living community, 2013 gold award winner for excellence in senior housing design at the trade association's annual national conference in Las Vegas. Ted Tye, managing partner of National Development, was on hand to accept the award.
Waterstone, a joint venture of National Development and EPOCH Senior Living, was designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects. The interior design was done by Wellesley Design Associates and landscape architecture by Stantec's Boston office. The community includes 134 apartments, opened in May 2012, and has attracted seniors from throughout the region.
The NAHB, with more than 140,000 members, is a preeminent U.S. building association. This award, a showcase for innovation, emerging trends and quality housing for seniors, recognizes excellence in building, design, marketing and lifestyles of housing for seniors. The gold award recognizes Waterstone as the best mixed-use senior housing community in the country.
Tye said the Waterstone team is honored to have received this prestigious recognition. He attributed the community's win to, in part, the thoughtful process that led to Waterstone's development.
"We took a historic site in a prime location in Wellesley that had been abandoned for nearly 20 years and turned it into a jewel of the community," Tye said. "We incorporated the industrial mill history of this area into the building's design to create something that blends well with the existing architecture in the community."
For National Development, this is its third NAHB gold medal, following awards in 1998 for the Goddard House in Brookline and in 1996 for Heritage at Cleveland Circle in Boston.
The Waterstone at Wellesley campus includes both independent and assisted living rental apartments for seniors 62 and older, as well as retail and medical office space. It is built on the former site of a Grossman's hardware store, which sat vacant for years before being demolished prior to Waterstone's development.
The features that secured Waterstone's gold medal include its innovative fitness program with personal trainers; unique design features featuring private porches for easy access to the outdoors; an easily accessible riverfront walking path with raised gardens; and an adaptable and easily accessible design and structure. Notable amenities include an open demonstration kitchen; a resident bar and lounge area with private wine lockers; a media and theater room; and a riverfront courtyard with a putting green and fire pit. The community also features an indoor pool.
Elkus Manfredi Architects and Wellesley Design Associates crafted an interior design focused on the American Craftsman aesthetic. The community, which has been compared to a boutique hotel, features handmade glazed tiles, custom millwork, multiple fireplaces, and period-appropriate stonework and furnishings.
"At Waterstone, the independent and assisted living communities are seamlessly integrated into the community as a whole," Tye said. "They are connected but also have their own unique and distinct entrances and identities."