Cornerstone Hospice
Size – 14,700 sf
Phase: Completed 2019
Program: Hospice and Palliative Care Facility
Ground Up Master Plan + Renovation
Location – The Villages, FL
The word ‘Hospice’ originates from the Latin word, ‘Hospitum’. Its earliest uses describe places of shelter and waystations for the sick and weary travelers returning from a lengthy or arduous journey. Here, in this definition lies a poetic language from which the architecture was derived. A place of respite for those who have travelled a lengthy journey. The act or ritual of passing should be as reverent as the life lived. This design seeks to restore the reverence in death, and it seeks to provide a quiet space for a family to say farewell to their departed.
Situated along the scenic Lake Sumter, the site is composed of an existing 12-bed patient facility and a chapel. Through conversation with the client, three site challenges emerged as design catalysts for future planning; 1) Choreographing the Entry Sequence, 2) Providing Quality Views for all occupants, and 3) Shade as a means of organizing the overall program. The new site plan proposes an additional 12-bed patient facility to address the growing needs of its predecessor, a Healing Arts Center and Remembrance Pavilion to engage the community and address family needs, resituates the chapel for better accessibility, and a series of bosques that aide in site atmosphere and the sequencing of exterior spaces.
Upon arrival of the site, a the bosques frame the main point of entry at the Healing Arts Center and the Remembrance Pool just beyond. Not only does the bosque guide visitors to the appropriate location, it also serves as a gentle reminder, a kind-of poetic gesture acknowledging the circle of life. It also gives patrons a shaded, space to pool and eddy as they please and leaving the weight of their circumstance for a quiet moment of levity.
Along the water’s edge, sits a row of patient rooms. By aligning the beds in this manner, it not only democratizes the views for each patient, but it maximizes accessibility to serene, unobstructed views towards the beautiful Lake Sumter.
