Wilson Homecare Breaks Groundon Residential Facility

Participating in the groundbreaking were, from left: Dave Perkins (HEDCO), Glenn Wachi (First Hawaiian Bank), Shelley Wilson (Wilson Homecare), Kelvin Bloom (Wilson’s husband), Kurt Mitchell (Kober Hanssen Mitchell Architects), Max Suiter (Canaan Construction), Brett Hill (Brett Hill Cos.) and Kahu Kordell Kekoa.

Artist’s rendering of the completed residence

Wilson Homecare, a local homecare agency, is expanding its services by developing a residential care home facility in Kailua. The $4.8 million project broke ground on Aug. 22 at a 14,000-square-foot site located near the Aikahi Park Shopping Center. The general contractors are Brett Hill Cos. Inc. and Canaan Construction Ltd. Kober Hanssen Mitchell Architects is the project designer.

The residence features two stories and an underground basement for parking. There will be 19 suites, ranging from 260-300 square feet, with private baths. The home encompasses about 11,000 square feet of living space.

The concept behind this boutique care home is the Texas-based Eden Alternative, which is “dedicated to (transforming) institutional approaches to care into the creation of a community where life is worth living.” (The Eden Alternative’s founder, Dr. William Thomas, appears on KGMB-9’s The Genius of Aging regularly.)

To support this, the home has been designed as a familylike environment that will encourage residents to interact with each other — such as large living room spaces, activity spaces and common spaces.
“For instance, in the kitchen and dining room area, it’s encouraged that the residents help participate in preparing the meals,” says architect Kurt Mitchell. “It’s a rather large kitchen that allows for that. They sit in these group settings, so it’s not like individual tables … It allows for a family environment where people are able to interact with each other. It’s an encouraged part of the process.”

When designing these types of homes, Mitchell says there are three main concerns to address: balancing sustainability, accessibility and “smart home” (electronic bells and whistles) design. In particular, for this project, accessibility posed a challenge, as the site itself is sloping and offered limited space. It also was challenging to design a residential home and maintain that neighborhood character while also meeting commercial standards required by code.

“We’re trying to provide as much of a natural environment as possible, so that not all of the outside space is taken up by these types of activities, such as parking lots and loading areas,” Mitchell says. “We want the residents to be able to come outside in a natural environment.”
The Kailua home is expected to be complete in August 2010.