The Logan Intergenerational Family Education (LIFE) Center in Logan, Kansas, will provide both long-term care for seniors and an elementary school.
The need for this facility arose from the space constraints on an existing Pre-k through 12th grade school in the rural community. Logan also needed a new senior care facility, and the local Dane G. Hansen Foundation, spearheaded by board member Brien Stockman, sought to provide an innovative community initiative. International research has proven the benefits of combining elementary schools and senior living, which Stockman and HFG wanted to provide for the small community.
For Logan and other Phillips County residents, the LIFE Center will provide senior residents with the opportunity to stay engaged in their community and in children’s lives as they attend the elementary school.
Intersecting the two facilities is a children’s and elderly playground with a gymnasium, large enough to house indoor basketball and volleyball courts for hosting regional tournaments for nearby communities. Senior living residents are encouraged to take advantage of easy access to watch games being played as well as activities at the nearby high school.
The Logan community united around this intergenerational vision to promote the researched benefits of the concept and pass a bond issue to fund the project. The vision for this facility is to strengthen community bonds and make Logan a place that children will continue to call home as adults.
Designed to mimic typical aesthetics in the region, the school and gymnasium are metal buildings that will withstand the extreme seasonal conditions and wind in northwest Kansas. It includes a public storm shelter that doubles as a community activity room for City of Logan resident use.
The manor care facility, based on a small house model that emulates the homes from which seniors will move, is designed with traditional wood frames and stone. The 64,000 sq. ft. space features three pods with 36 beds total. Each pod is self-sufficient to function independently with its own kitchen and dining, which was a result of their past experience with COVID-19 protocols. The pods are each designed with unique color palettes to help residents identify their respective spaces, with memory boxes outside each bedroom that residents can customize with family photos, mementos, and other personal items. pa
The elementary school includes classrooms for grades Pre-K through 4th and a shared reading space around a large faux tree. Steel tubes form the structure of the tree, wrapped with a faux bark product called ‘flexbark’ from Replications Unlimited. As a highly realistic visual, they use latex molds of real trees to create this product. Custom acoustic ceiling clouds made with Armstrong Tectum create the illusion of leaves above and clouds surrounding the tree. Lighting was carefully integrated so that the function of the space was not lost. Branches protrude through acoustic ‘leaf’ clouds around the tree with green pieces in the surrounding carpet to emulate grass.
