The Apex Senior Center is a 28,000 square-foot expansion to the town’s existing community center. The facility is tailored, specifically, to the needs of active seniors and houses three large meeting rooms, administrative offices, storage, as well as spaces for group and individual exercise, arts & crafts, pottery, and computer learning. The proportions and interior finishes of each space is fine-tuned to achieve the optimal light, sound, & textural qualities for the intended activity. These programmed spaces are assembled into two rectilinear masonry volumes, which are shifted along a monolithic service bar & double height axis of circulation. Furthermore, the glass-clad interstitial space provides the opportunity for informal meeting.
This project began with a daylong design charrette, hosted by the architects, and attended by more than 150 local seniors. From this meeting, in conjunction with a Parks & Rec task force, a program was developed. Walking was by far the most desired activity needing to accommodate. As such, the corridors were oversized, creating an indoor track, that is linked only to the surrounding pedestrian paths, but is also connected to the existing community center – effectively extending the length of covered walking by a quarter mile. Views are framed throughout to the natural & urban surroundings, while internal connectivity is maintained though simple changes in the sectional conditions, resulting in complex and varied spatial configurations.
Located on the property of the historic Tunstall house, the Town Hall campus is at the highest point along the Seaboard Air Line railway, a feature from which the town takes its name. The Senior Center sets to create a dialogue with this site. Existing 20th century buildings, reference the town’s historic train station in their detailing, roof lines, & material palette. However, using large, curved roofs, angled exterior columns, a covered porch, and exposed structure, among other elements, the new Senior Center reinterprets those references into a contemporary design language. The senior center features two shallow-curved metal roofs which direct rainwater toward oversized gutters, where it is ultimately piped down the sloped columns. The site has well-developed existing retention pond, which was expanded to accommodate new building and hardscape. To reduce the environmental impact on this much-loved amenity, overflow water is now piped across the drive to the central courtyard, which features an underground stormwater management system.
