Veterans Nursing Facilities — Dual-Facility Design

SSOE Group, in conjunction with EBA Ernest Bland Associates, P.C., completed planning, architecture, interior design, and engineering services for two state-of-the-art, 104-bed Veterans Nursing Facilities — each 142,000 GSF — built around a pioneering resident-centered care model. Departing from traditional institutional healthcare environments, the design philosophy prioritizes dignity, autonomy, and quality of life by creating a normalized, home-like therapeutic environment that supports clinical, rehabilitative, recreational, and spiritual needs of the Veteran population.

Each 142,000 SF facility is organized as a single-story campus arranged around a series of landscaped courtyards, anchored by a 34,000 SF central community building and four adjacent neighborhood buildings. Each neighborhood contains two resident households of 13 private patient rooms — each with an en-suite private bath — clustered around shared living and dining spaces to foster a small-scale, household model of care. Single-loaded corridors and concourses oriented toward landscaped courtyards serve as the primary wayfinding armature, maximizing biophilic connectivity and direct visual and physical access to outdoor therapeutic environments. A generous central concourse links the main entry to a community lounge and “back porch” gathering space overlooking the main courtyard, with clerestory glazing providing abundant daylighting throughout.

The community center anchors the campus with a full complement of person-centered amenity and clinical spaces — including a bistro, large group and activity rooms, chapel, and dedicated physical and occupational therapy suites — supporting a holistic continuum of care within a dignified, residential-scale environment.