NYSID alumna Christina Peters ’09 (BFA) is a senior associate at Perkins Eastman with expertise in design for aging and healthcare design. She sometimes works with principal Maureen Carley-Vallejo on the design of hospitals, but her deepest level of experience is in the planning and design of senior living communities.

One of Christina Peters’ most exciting current projects is a confidential project in Hong Kong, for which she gets to draw on her knowledge of creating both senior centers and healthcare environments. The building is expanding to a 14-floor facility with over 500 hospital beds and 24 outpatient units, with physical therapy centers on every floor. The population of the area is aging, so the hospital is expanding to accommodate increased geriatric spaces and spaces for other forms of care.

Peters says that one of the most wonderful aspects of this project is the addition of a staff garden and canteen to serve as a retreat for the workers who are caring for the elderly. “Creating beautiful spaces for staff who do such hard work is a form of compensation and appreciation and helps attract and retain workers,” she says. Peters says that these days, communities for the elderly are “anything but institutional.” Here’s what she wants emerging designers to know about senior living, her sub-sector of healthcare design:   “The senior living market is extremely competitive,” Peters says. “Owners want the best designers so they can attract residents with sophisticated tastes. There’s a movement away from skilled nursing to assisted living. The mandate is senior living communities with a very contemporary and luxurious feel.”

“A senior living community is such a fascinating place where the elderly go to continue learning and enjoying life,” Peters muses. “It’s a little like a college for older adults. In addition to physical therapy rooms and residences, you get to design the most interesting and fun kinds of spaces: pools; billiards rooms, exercise rooms, pickleball courts, and dining spaces. It’s very satisfying.”