Environments for Aging - Winter 2021 - 28

Philippe Saad
AIA, LEED AP, PRINCIPAL, DIMELLA SHAFFER (BOSTON)
P
HILIPPE SAAD HAS spent his 15-year career
pushing to break down stigmas associated
with senior living as well as raise awareness
nationally of the need for housing where LGBTQ
seniors are welcome and supported. Most recently,
his advocacy has been illustrated in the many projects
he's developed as well as his work outside the
offi ce, serving on several national and local boards
such as Committee on Design for Aging and Project
Q Communities. In 2018, he cofounded LGBTQ
Senior Housing Inc., which is developing The
Pryde-Boston's first LGBTQ-friendly senior
housing. Scheduled to open in summer 2023, the
project is converting a former school into 74 units
of aff ordable housing. Another focus of his work
is connecting people and blending communities
into their larger environments. For Th e Baldwin,
an independent living community in Londonderry,
N.H., that meant integrating senior housing within
a greater planned development, with public-facing
amenity spaces that create opportunities for residents
and community members to interact. Saad
is also a frequent speaker at industry events and a
mentor at Boston Bridge, an affi liate of the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology AgeLab.
Environments for Aging: What role can this industry
play in raising awareness of the need for
LGBTQ-friendly senior housing?
For the past several years, the design community
has been unifi ed on the role that design plays in
people's well-being, including in senior living,
healthcare, and workplace design. What we've
failed to acknowledge, as much, is that design can
be responsible for segregating people or it can have
the power to bring people together. What we found
through our many public discussions with LGBTQ
seniors over the years is that no one wants to live in
an isolated community of only people like them,
but rather in a diverse community where they're
respected and supported. Th e design of Th e Pryde
in Boston's Hyde Park neighborhood focuses on
28 | winter 2021
welcoming the outside in through a community
center, which further integrates residents with the
larger community. Th is is achieved by carefully organizing
spaces hierarchically from the most public
to the most private and by providing spaces for all
types of groups to gather. Th e outcome is a set of
varied and fl exible spaces throughout the building
that contribute to the vibrancy of the community.
Why is connecti ng people important to the future of
senior living design?
Before senior housing became a distinct category, seniors
remained connected to their communities and
families-they were the elders, the well-respected
age group that lived intergenerationally. I don't think
the desire has changed much over the years. However,
in our most recent history, seniors stopped having
a choice because our society had determined that
after retirement the voice of seniors should be deamplified,
and seniors were forced to retire from
society. Th e incoming generations of seniors have
found ways through connected technology and
their part-time contribution to the workplace to
make their voices heard.We're seeing more seniors
demanding to live in places where they can stay
connected to and integrated with the larger environment.
I think this will play a major role in breaking
down the stigma around senior living.
What's your vision for senior living in the future?
I'm an optimist, and I think that as humans we are
destined to progress rather than conserve. Overall, I
think the industry is at a pivotal moment of change.
It's moving toward becoming more integrated with
its surroundings and-if I may say-better valued. It
will all come down to removing the stigma. What
distinguishes outstanding senior living projects
from the rest is when we don't settle for " good
enough for senior living " but rather make every
aspect of senior living design lead with innovation
and creativity beyond what's happening in other
market sectors. I want to reach a point where multifamily
design and hospitality are inspired by what
we do in senior living.
The Pryde
efamagazine.com
DIMELLA SHAFFER
http://www.efamagazine.com
Environments for Aging - Winter 2021

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