CREATING INTERGENERATIONAL COMMUNITIES

MIXING PEOPLE OF ALL AGES IN THEIR LIVING ENVIRONMENT LEADS TO HEALTHIER, MORE FULFILLED, BETTER CONNECTED AND ACTIVE LIFESTYLES

Gensler, the largest design and architecture firm in the world, has senior living practice leaders.

The San Francisco-based firm has generated reports on intergenerational communities and is designing a groundbreaking project that will blend senior living with a major college campus.

The Varcity at Purdue University in West Lafayette, Ind., will bring alums back to school for their senior years.

The complex of apartments, town houses, villas and flats will create 230 rental units on 14 acres.

About 60 percent of the units will provide independent-living options as well as assisted-living and memory-care units.

Tama Duffy Day, Gensler’s global senior living leader, said University officials hope Varcity at Purdue will allow residents and current students to interact and learn from each other.

The first floor of the main building will feature shared amenities for students and residents that will include an event design lab, lecture hall, makerspace, lifelong learning space, an early childhood learning center and a work-share space.

Varcity residents will have access to classes and lectures on campus and a school ID card that provides access to all campus facilities. Amenities will include dining areas, a bar, gym, aerobics space, a pool and spa, pickleball courts and an outdoor kitchen and grilling station.

“I think that to talk about planning tools, you must take a broader view… you can’t assume that if you install park benches and time your traffic lights to allow additional time for pedestrians, that you can call a community age friendly,” said Jeremy Southerland, Gensler’s southeast region senior living practice area leader.