Utica Senior Housing

Utica, New York

1972

The competition program called for 100 units of senior citizens’ apartments and communal support facilities, along with indoor/outdoor recreational facilities. The design approach was for a double-loaded high-rise tower joined to two mid-rise wings of single loaded units. This allowed for the creation of a large, slightly-raised and protected courtyard, with trees and planting beds for a community garden and flower beds.

Construction was proposed as an assembly of precast concrete planks and manufactured exterior wall systems, in the spirit of the Elm Street and Menands projects.

The project received an Honorable Mention.

Winthrop Senior Housing

Fort Banks, Winthrop, Massachusetts

1974

The competition was to develop the land form that remained of Fort Banks just north of Winthrop into mixed-income and elderly housing. The elevated remains of the fort provided excellent ocean and salt marsh views so the scheme was to place all the housing at the upper level, with the mid-rise building creating a protective edge to the street and the lower, atrium units on the quieter part of the site. Pedestrian connectors would lead to the lower level fields to use as recreation. 

Dracut Senior Housing

Dracut, Massachusetts

1976

This project successfully mixes the sensibilities of two different personalities: my tendency towards a more formal design, derived from my training at Cornell and exposure to Colin Rowe, and my partner at the time, Steve Holt, who was an advocate for the aesthetic of rural New England, especially the North Shore area of Massachusetts.

The solution, therefore takes the formality of the Menands and Winthrop projects, but wraps it more casually around an old pasture, complete with existing rubble walls and outbuildings. As with the earlier projects, this proposal takes advantage of the grade change to maximize views

The building alignment peeling off to the northwest directs one into the wooded area with various types of gardens proposed on the sunny, south facing part of the site and a long, accessible walking trail. Note the Mies-inspired community facility in the lower left, that incorporates the existing stonework.