Last week took me to Taylorsville to photograph Meadow Peak, a new complex that provides assisted living, memory care, and skilled nursing that sits adjacent to Summit Vista. Okland Construction built Meadow Peak, and TSA Architects designed it. In keeping with its choices of services, the building was interesting in that the facades showed more variation in design than one usually sees, almost appearing as a village rather than one building. The opening shot shows the building as it presents itself from the entryway. In the distance on the right, is Summit Vista.
The assisted living entrance has a welcoming overhang over the entrance executed in wood, and the first floor is low and scaled to the proportions of people, making it seem approachable and in keeping with a hotel or an apartment building.
The rear of the assisted living appears traditionally residential, but the end landings and windows seem much more like a contemporary college residence hall or an urban apartment.
In contrast, the interior very much unites the spaces with a wide central spine that runs the length of the building. This view is from the southern entrance and the administrative offices, showing the reception desk used for screening visitors and a waiting area. The ceiling slopes, providing for a clerestory that naturally illuminates.
Following the corridor, it opens to a dining area. Cafés are along the hallway for selecting meals. The design lowers the scale with a circular wooden suspended ceiling and pendant lights. The glassed room looking down into the area takes advantage of the natural light that fills the room from the wall of windows to the back of the camera.
The clerestory windows continue in this area with another bistro dining option. To the right is the curving wall of the theater.
A garden occupies the area between the wings that extend out from the central core, and the design seizes the opportunity to unify the inside and outside with ample glass and wood that transitions from the inside to a shady cover outside. There are rocks behind the benches on the left, bringing inside the landscaping. The ceiling is open to the building’s ducting like an urban loft, and narrow black metal strips form a geometric web to suggest a lowered ceiling.
The open ceiling discussed above repeats in this view of a sitting area outside the glassed wall of the library. Opaque glass separates a large activity room from the hallway and wood panels mark the transition from the room to the own ceiling.
Upstairs in the assisted living area, the floor-to-ceiling windows capture the views of the snowy Wasatch Mountains. The interior colors go well this time of year with the outside. There is a patio beyond the glass wall for outdoor living. The same ceiling shown downstairs reappears with suspended round sections of ceiling and similarly shaped and sized light fixtures to drop the scale and keep the lighting lower. The hallway to the apartments is to the right.
The rooms in the skilled nursing area are sized and furnished for visitors to feel welcome and comfortable. The wooden sliding door opens to the restroom for easy access by walkers and wheelchairs.
I have been photographing transitional living and care facilities for a long time, long enough to see trends toward more natural lighting and spaces more like hospitality in design—similar to very nice hotels. The light, color, fabrics, and variation make a difference in how you feel in the spaces, and I am happy to see the evolution.
You can find more from our Photo Friday series here.