A New Home for an Ottawa Long-Term Care Establishment

St. Patrick’s Home has been a pillar of support in Ottawa for more than 144 years and is recognized as a community leader in the long-term care of the elderly. In August 2007, the Ontario Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care awarded St. Patrick’s Home 96 additional beds. This led to a 288-bed redevelopment plan that would also see the reconstruction of the existing facility. Six years after our initial study, the new 192,800 sq.ft facility was complete. A large front porch provides year round access to the outside and offers a familiar home-like amenity. Additional gestures that allow residents to feel at home include a fireplace room and a courtyard garden, while individual dining rooms, sunrooms, “harvest rooms,” lounges and spas are provided to each of the Resident Home Areas (RHA).

A Home-like Environment, Programmed for Lean Processes

The new home consists of nine RHA’s with 32 beds each, for a total of 180 private beds and 108 semi-private beds. Each RHA was designed so that one enters into a living/dining area as you would your own home. Linking to these spaces are a residential style servery, a sun room for activities and a “harvest room” that might be used for dining when guests arrive or for meetings between staff and family. These RHA’s occur at the south end of the building for five storeys and are a mirror image at the north wing from the second to fifth floors. This modular repetition results in a cost effective structure and creates nine RHA’s that will feel unique with varied decor, but where everything is in the same place for the maximum efficiency of staff and volunteers who may work on multiple RHA’s.

The interior design of the home uses colours and textures in the finishes, furniture and wayfinding to give it a very residential feel, while the actual materials have been selected based on their ability to withstand the ongoing use by residents and visitors and repeated use of cleaning products.

The Stations of the Cross from the original chapel were moved into the public elevator corridors; for some these are seen as artwork while others will still be able to use them as a religious procession.

The “Gathering Place” is a feature space at the Ground Floor. This multi-purpose space can be closed as a chapel or opened to the lobby for celebrations and special events. ◼