When it comes to senior living communities, bigger is sometimes better. But as senior care innovator Dr. Bill Thomas remarked last year, the so-called “big box” model of senior living is no longer the only option for residents.
Architects, capital providers, operators and entrepreneurs are exploring new concepts for smaller, more intimate styles of senior housing. These include small-home models of senior housing such as Minka, a company Thomas founded that focuses on compact, prefab homes built through modular construction techniques. And small homes are being organized into new layouts such as “pocket neighborhoods,” like the one at Garden Spot Village in New Holland, Pennsylvania.
Such concepts decentralize the traditional senior living community layout and may help make senior living services more affordable for the masses in the process.