Serenity Senior Living — Space Planning & Programming

Project Overview

Course: ARCH X413.8 Space Planning and Programming

Role: Student Designer

Facility Size: ~12,500 square feet

Status: Academic Project | UC Berkeley Extension | Spring 2026

Serenity Senior Living presentation board showing concept, adjacency diagram, schematic floor plan, parti concept, and furnished floor plan

Design Concept

The design draws from the biophilic principle — connecting residents to natural light, organic textures, and serene greenery. Circulation flows from public to private like a quiet retreat: arrival → community → dwelling.

Natural materials — warm wood, stone, and woven textiles — are layered with soft greenery to blur the line between inside and outside.

Parti & Spatial Organization

The spatial concept is organized around three concentric zones:

Public Core: Lobby, reception, dining, and library at the center — the social heart of the facility
Acoustic Buffer: Staff zones (lounge, admin) insulated from residential corridors
Private Ring: Residential suites wrap the perimeter for maximum natural light and privacy

Focus Areas

Lobby & Reception — 1,227 SF

The arrival experience — where calm begins. Curved seating, biophilic plantings, and a "Welcome — We're Glad You're Here" wall mural create a warm, dignified first impression.

Serenity Senior Living lobby with curved sage and soft green seating, welcome wall mural, biophilic plantings, and warm recessed lighting

Library & Café

"Read · Imagine · Explore" — An intimate sanctuary for discovery. High-back reading nooks provide semi-private cocoon-like seating, with rounded lounge furniture, biophilic plantings, and a hand-painted botanical mural creating a sense of warmth and intellectual engagement.

Serenity Senior Living library with reading nook pods, Read Imagine Explore wall mural, rounded furniture, and indoor plantings

Serenity Senior Living library wider view showing reading nooks connecting to adjacent lobby space

Dining Room — 1,177 SF

Warm, communal dining with biophilic booth seating. Cleanable vinyl banquettes in warm coral tones, planter dividers between tables for privacy, pendant drum lights, and a botanical wall mural create a residential-quality dining experience.

Serenity Senior Living dining room with coral booth seating, botanical wall mural, red pendant drum lights, and planter dividers

Materials & FF&E

Furniture, fixtures, and finish selections support a calm, durable, biophilic senior-living environment.

Primary Material Palette

Warm Oak LVT — main circulation
Terrazzo Porcelain — lobby and dining
Soft Quartz — reception counters
Sage Paint — feature walls
Walnut Slat — acoustic walls
Performance Textile — lounge seating
Woven Fiber — texture layer
Cleanable Vinyl — dining banquettes

Performance Criteria

Slip-resistant floors, cleanable textiles, rounded furniture edges, acoustic softness, warm contrast, and low-VOC finishes throughout.

Universal Design & Accessibility

Applied universal-design thinking throughout the facility:

High-contrast counter edges for visual orientation
Chairs with arms for sit-to-stand support
Clear circulation and wheelchair approach zones
Cognitive wayfinding through color, signage, and spatial cues
Visual contrast between surfaces for safety
Dignified and intuitive spatial navigation

Biophilic Design Integration

The biophilic concept is woven throughout — indoor plantings, botanical murals, natural material textures, warm wood tones, views to nature, and soft organic furniture forms create a connection to the natural world that supports resident wellbeing, comfort, and sense of place.

AI Disclosure

One reception desk perspective was enhanced using an AI image generation tool to add the "Serenity Senior Living" text to the sage green feature wall. The original source was a Revit elevation. All other renderings are Revit-rendered perspectives.

Skills Demonstrated

Space Planning Programming Schematic Design Senior Living Design Adjacency Diagrams Parti Development Furniture Planning FF&E Selection Materials & Finishes Universal Design ADA Awareness Biophilic Design Interior Elevations Revit Rendering Evidence-Based Design Design Communication

Reflection

[Insert reflection on key learnings about programming, accessibility research, biophilic design principles, and designing for aging populations]