To stay financially viable, retirement communities must always keep an eye on the younger, incoming generation of seniors while meeting the needs of its current population. So when management at Duncaster Retirement Community in Bloomfield learned through a large-scale survey that the facility’s younger seniors and future residents sought a more modern, yet casual dining experience, they knew they had to respond.
“We’ve been doing some master planning with Duncaster on ways they can serve current seniors and what they want to do in the future to be one of the best providers,” said Mark Hebden, executive vice president of Ewing Cole, Duncaster’s Philadelphia-based architect on the project. “We looked at operational efficiency from a financial and facilities planning perspective. The things that we do with planning and design are driven by market needs and operational issues, as well as financial efficiency.”
Hebden said Duncaster, a 190-unit retirement facility which opened in 1984, was providing quality food service in an environment that was best suited to their older residents.
“You have different generations of seniors in the community, and each of those generations has a different perspective and preferences based on when they came of age,” Hebden said.
The residents who are in their 80s and 90s, are more likely to be frugal and satisfied with the basics, yet, they tend to want their dining experience to be more traditional in nature.
A new, younger generation, which grew up in more prosperous times and has different expectations of a dining experience, is gradually back filling vacancies at Duncaster.
“What this project was about was reconciling those different preferences and trying to rethink the entire dining/food service program,” Hebden said. “It requires a focus on choice and flexibility. There can’t just be one way to do it — you have to be respectful and responsive to the fact that different people have different wants.”
Ewing Cole got to work designing two spaces — one redesign of the old dining area to meet the needs of the younger residents who seek a more casual, bistro atmosphere, and an addition to accommodate the traditionalists.
The more traditional space will maintain the more formal seating, with tablecloths, that residents have come to expect. Improvements to the design will include more space between tables, and better acoustics, so the space is less noisy and diners can engage in conversation.
“We’re choosing finishes that would allow the absorption of the walls and ceilings to not create a high level of noise,” Hebden said. “That included engaging an acoustic consultant to work with the design team to validate the design and finishes to make sure the older ear would be able to hear.”
The walls will have more muted, neutral tones, and the lighting will focus on a kind of indirect light that is more pleasing to the aging eye.
Project Manager John Carpenter of Olsen Construction in East Hartford said the traditional space has an elegant, formal feel to it.
“The finishes will have a more traditional styling,” Carpenter said. “There is lots of wainscoting. There will be a fireplace at one end, and coppered ceilings with crown moldings.”
The design also calls for a curved wall to focus diners’ attention to the beautifully landscaped courtyard outside. Carpenter said future plans call for a nine-hole putting green.
The dining room addition, with its sweeping curved façade, will house the more modern space.
“It’s a more upscale interior design environment that is more towards the preferences of the younger generations coming in to Duncaster that they’re trying to attract,” Hebden said. “This space has different furniture, no tablecloths, more flexibility to move the furniture, and some banquette seating with upholstered benches.”
The curved design will allow for more window-side seating, popular with residents.
The design of the room is also being integrated with a different style of food service popular in more upscale restaurants today.
“We will have a display kitchen, where some of the food is being prepared in front of you,” Hebden said. “You can see into parts of the kitchen, or walk up and see a dish before you order it. They can have cooking demonstrations or utilize that space for different events.”
With the extra square footage to be available to diners, there will also be more room to accommodate devices for mobility, such as walkers, wheelchairs and electronic carts.
“One decision we made was to have a place to move (the mobility devices) as you enter the dining spaces, so they wouldn’t be in the dining space itself,” Hebden said. “It will be a valet parking area of sorts.”
The more modern dining room will also feature a fireplace.
Patty Roohr, director of marketing for Duncaster, said the added flexibility in the new dining areas, to be completed next spring, is something residents really wanted.
“What we realized is that people would like to grab a hamburger in their play clothes at 7:30 at night, and other times, they may want to have guests,” she said. “The biggest thing that we learned is that it’s not just about the food, it’s about the experience.”
Roohr said the new dining experience at Duncaster will include more dining options. Under the old plan, residents had a choice of lunch or dinner every day. Under the new flexible option, residents have a card similar to a pre-paid debit card, allowing them to use the card on any meal, for basic grocery items, or for guests.
Roohr said Duncaster’s investment in the residents’ dining experience — which will total about $4 million — is money well spent.
“The dining experience is really the spirit of the community,” she said. “It’s where people go for an experience, not just for a meal.”
