Life-Span Design of Residential Environments for an Aging Population

Marriott Corporation's Kit of Parts Approach to Seniors Design

William K. Glass, A.I.A.
Director of Design Management
Marriott Corporation
Architecture and Construction Division

Demographics, by themselves, are overemphasized in relationship to the rapidly growing seniors market. However, one must keep in mind that if the currently expanding regulatory environment is not kept in check or modified, the senior living industry providers will not be able to keep up with the spiraling housing demands of the elderly population. Nor will retirement facility residents be able to absorb the hidden tax such regulation adds to their housing costs. Profit and nonprofit providers need to join forces to meet the groundswell of demand from all segments of the elderly community at all income levels.

Marriott Corporation entered the senior housing arena in 1984. Since that time, our mission of providing quality senior living environments that are customer focused and responsive has never wavered. Our products range in scope from "catered living" facilities, with assisted living/personal care services augmented by a small nursing component (e.g., Brighton Gardens), to "independent full-service" facilities, which concentrate on independent living residences but also contain a full spectrum of skilled nursing services (e.g., Stratford Court).

In July 1989, Marriott Senior Living Services announced plans to build 150 communities by the mid- 1990s at a cost of over $1 billion. Under any set of criteria on any product type, this is an aggressive rollout goal. It has prompted the design management arm of the Architecture and Construction Division (which is responsible for design and construction) to revamp its approach to process. The result is the "Kit of Parts."

This paper focuses on the method by which the corporation plans to achieve its aggressive rollout during the next few years. The method necessitates a change in the development process as viewed by the development team. This change has come about through the technology of computer-aided design (CAD), which has allowed every "site-adapt" exercise to begin with the building design in hand. Thus, making the site fit the building becomes as much of a driver as making the building fit the site. At the same time, the meshing of these planning priorities allows for the conscientious environmental design required of large facilities. It is with this process that Marriott has distinguished itself in the past with smaller-scaled lodging products and wishes to make a similar contribution in the senior housing arena.

Marriott's Development Goals

Marriott found itself in an unusual position when it entered the senior housing marketplace, since this industry has traditionally been dominated by not-for-profit operators and religious or affinity providers. But our strength as a company has traditionally been customer service in the hospitality-driven businesses of hotels and contract services. Our Food and Services Management Division, with over 30 years' experience in the health care industry, currently provides contract food and maintenance services at dozens of hospitals, nursing homes, and retirement facilities. Thus, our service skills fit nearly perfectly in this burgeoning industry. Early on, the health care component of seniors facilities was thought to be -- and has become -- an accomplishable skill stretch.

It was agreed early in 1988, after three efforts on large custom facilities, that to make an impact on the bottom line of a corporation whose 1989 sales exceeded $7 billion, a process had to be developed to place senior living products in the marketplace at an accelerated rate. The method would have to minimize fee outlay, take advantage of limited human resources, and reduce project duration from site selection to ground breaking without sacrificing quality and internal management review of the process.

Every development-oriented company has different constraints under which they must operate. Strategy is set as a result of these constraints. Our strategy is therefore not a universal one but one that addresses the particular constraints of Marriott Corporation. As such, it is one that very effectively addresses the development triangle of cost, time, and quality. It is never possible to achieve all three simultaneously; the traditional design process allows for only two of these factors to be achieved at any one time. We believe, however, that the Kit of Parts method allows for nearly all three to be achieved with a more consistent end product in a shorter time frame. If the technique Marriott has developed is applicable to the seniors industry on a more universal basis, and, can benefit other providers, then it is surely worthy of our consideration in the format of this conference.

The Kit of Parts

Why It Is Needed

Project duration has been extended in recent years by the myriad of regulatory layers that require coordinated compliance prior to construction. Design professionals have been increasingly required to spend inordinate amounts of time sifting through the various building, accessibility, health, licensing, and zoning codes that affect each building in each location. In an effort to construct as affordable a building as possible in each case, the architects scrutinize these codes to determine how best to comply with them. In addition, to create maximum value in the architecture of each project, the input of all disciplines must be gathered to reach consensus during design. It is traditionally felt that this individual project treatment is the only method by which to effectively alter criteria and input new industry and/or market direction. Therefore, projects proceed on a project-by-project basis. The result has been high individual project design fees and extended length of design/production.

There also exist many uncontrollable elements in the production timeline, including zoning and permitting. While the Kit of Parts itself does not provide a miraculous solution to these problems, its by-products assist greatly in expediting and coordinating these elements (see "Benefits and Drawbacks" below). Controlling risk exposure, in light of the many uncontrollable elements, becomes a formidable undertaking.

The equation of project design/production has typically made the desired project goal or macroassemblage (unknown) a function of the microelements (known), combined with time and the input of the selected disciplines. Disciplines in this case does not denote design disciplines alone but also design specialties combined with operations, marketing, finance, licensing, development, and feasibility. Traditionally, the counsel and review of each individual discipline is incorporated into each project. The need for input from all quarters bogs down an accelerated rollout and is difficult to coordinate. Human resources are always strained during an aggressive development plan.

Prototypical Design

The word prototype creates apprehension in the minds of many in the building trades, especially design and regulatory professionals. Architects envision insensitive rubber-stamped building design solutions while regulatory officials are skeptical that any two buildings can be built exactly the same way twice. Somewhere between this new concept and the traditional design and production process, however, lies a method that provides an acceptable level of design input while reducing project time and the increasing burden of regulatory impediment. The solution is not in itself revolutionary but makes maximum use of the advances afforded the design profession with the advent of CAD. Prototypical, not prototype, is the correct description for the Kit of Parts method.

Development Criteria

The key elements necessary to the success of a prototypical approach such as the Kit of Parts are focus, consensus, and commitment. Sustained concentration is necessary at this juncture, as any decisions reached will be repetitive. Any and all interrelationships of function and discipline must be thoroughly examined to reach true consensus. The success of the mission rides on the effort and outcome of the commitment reached.

Design as an individual project function of the kit has to be cast in stone, so to speak, with refinements to specific projects or changes in design criteria being made generically. The buildings have to become adjustable -- a Lego set of sorts with snap together components that connect in an almost infinite number of combinations under predetermined guidelines. Land cost for senior housing sites is high, so the shape of the site cannot preclude site use. The assembled building also has to be chameleon-like: the outside skin must be able to vary in response to the intrinsic architectural building materials of various regions. Major textural elements such as roofing materials must also be regionally interchangeable. The mix of one and two bedroom units must be malleable so as to respond programmatically to specific individual market factors. Building height has to increase or decrease without designers going back to the drawing board. The kit must be documented on CAD in such a way as to be rapidly manipulated. In other words, the overall building concept has to solve the three S's: size, shape, and slope. The building has to be capable of meeting the site as much as the site must be able to be manipulated to meet the building.

Methodology

Site-adapt disciplines -- that is, landscape architecture and civil engineering -- are not among those necessary in designing the original base building product. The base building concept, since it is a generic solution, is developed in a vacuum of sorts. There is no specific site for the building; it can be located on any site. Civil engineering and landscape architecture is not needed except for initial conceptual design and cost scoping. Structural elements of the building are calculated entirely from the top of the foundation slab through the top of the roof finish; the individual foundation design becomes part of the specific site-adapt exercise. Interior design solutions are adjusted only on a limited basis for regional color palates and artwork; most of the furniture selections and miscellaneous furnishings remain static. All specifications are determined during the development of the kit and are only altered because of local restrictions or direction from the Product Development Committee.

Generic changes to the base product are handled by the Product Development Committee, which consists of the design management staff and the primary business disciplines. Regular meetings allow a seemingly static product design to benefit from a multidiscipline analysis of market trends, product improvements, and shifts in industry techniques. All proposed changes are thoroughly reviewed and implemented, maintaining the all important consensus of the decision makers. This allows a forum for new ideas to be considered in a fraction of the time previously expended by the various disciplines on a project-by-project basis.

Site Adapt and Production

The architect remains the driver of the kit and site adapt production effort. The technique shifts, however, from the traditional design and production function to that of site-adapt production. And herein lies the main time-saving element. Mechanical and electrical design is a recalculation and sizing exercise of a predetermined routing layout. Plumbing design concentrates on adapting lateral design and fixed piping verticals to the utility constraints of the particular site. Civil and landscape documents are developed for each site from predetermined criteria and allowance budgets.

Milestones -- familiar to individuals in the building trade -- change as a result of having the design of the building components being virtually in hand at the time a site is identified. Hence, the process terminology changes as follows:

Regulatory processes are woven into the procedure, but the important difference is that now zoning efforts can begin immediately upon site approval and do not have to wait for a building to be designed from scratch. All through the process, costs are further identified, financial analysis is refined, and risk is constantly monitored. These functions are not unusual in a custom building. However, many more functions, both controllable and uncontrollable, can occur simultaneously with this procedure without incurring risk from excessive outlay of development funds. This, in itself, compresses the duration of the overall effort.

Table 1. Traditional Design and the Kit of Parts

Traditional Design Conceptual Design
Schematic Design
Design Development
Construction Documents
Bidding
Construction

Kit of Parts
Conceptual Site Plan
Civil Site Design
Construction Documents
Bidding
Construction

Benefits and Drawbacks

Benefits surely outweigh drawbacks with the application of the Kit of Parts. Foremost is the standardization of operations processes and budgets. With an expanding product rollout, human resources for building management and operations must, for the most part, come from within. The Kit of Parts provides standard operating environments that allow staff members to transfer from property to property with a markedly reduced learning curve. operating cost analysis is enhanced with function spaces, such as kitchens and nursing stations, that are identical.

Repetitive building systems and components allow for more competitive pricing. Contractors and subtrades become familiar with building construction techniques, and savings result. Very competitive national contracts can be created with specific suppliers. This not only reduces cost but also allows better control on delivery and handling of materials. Material quantities can be meticulously calculated per part; no matter what the configuration of the particular project, building material quantities and furnishings can be readily calculated. Additionally, the scope of procurement services can be reduced as a result.

The speed with which the uncontrollable elements can be dealt with is enhanced. Zoning submittals can be generated in a matter of hours, not weeks, because the pieces of the building are already designed. Architectural rendering technology can be added to basic CAD to allow color generation of building elevations and color photographic renderings of specific building configurations, and even computer generated three-dimensional videos can be generated from the videotape of an undeveloped site. All these technologies are available and can be resources that are in hand, ready to be used to assist in zoning, municipal approvals, or negotiations with neighboring land-owners.

Planning, zoning, and permitting officials are more comfortable with a product that is familiar to them. Few substantive changes occur on subsequent kit projects, and CAD technology can identify any specific changes from one document set to the next, which further enhances the comfort level. This familiarity by state and local officials tends to expedite the zoning and permitting processes, which minimizes potential downside risk.

Market product identity plays less of a role in senior housing than in more commercial endeavors, but it nonetheless promotes resident product confidence and therefore reinforces the primary marketing medium: word of mouth. Promotional materials can be used nationally in lieu of having to create logo material for each individual project.

Drawbacks are limited in comparison with benefits. Site manipulation is generally increased with any prototypical building concept versus a custom building design. As a rule, however, the time saved and the fees eliminated compensate for this deficiency, which is many times more a function of perception than of reality.

In theory, the site selection process would seem to be more limited with a prototypical design scheme. Experience shows that use of the Kit of Parts method affects site selection minimally, if at all. As a result of the site configuration flexibility, rarely is there a site that cannot be used.

The base kit must be designed to a common denominator of three national building codes. Building types must be selected to comply with the target states to which the development effort will be directed. Obvious deviations, such as those driven by seismic considerations or onerous health codes in specific areas, become the exception rather than the rule. Certain minor inefficiencies become latent in the specifications and building design that would not if the building were custom designed for a specific location. Again, these drawbacks are minimal and are generally offset by the speed of overall process and other efficiencies generated.

In sum, the strength of the Kit of Parts lies in the repeated use of the same basic architectural design and operating and management concepts, all of which serve to reduce construction costs to permit a more affordable housing alternative.

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