Spellman Brady

Spellman Brady & Company recently completed a comprehensive  interior design package for Bethesda Health Group’s newest Assisted Living and Memory Support community, Bethesda Hawthorne Place, located in the Webster Groves/Kirkwood area of St. Louis, Missouri.  Spellman Brady was responsible for the interior design, finishes, furniture and artwork selection for the new facility.

Hawthorne Place consists of two Assisted Living households on two floors totaling 38 apartments and one Memory Support household for 20 resident apartments.  In addition, to the one and two- bedroom apartments, the Assisted Living households feature a hearth room, several lounge spaces, secured outdoor courtyards, a main dining room, kitchen and activity space, as well as a private dining room.  The facility’s overall amenities also include a dramatic entry lobby, grand staircase, library, fitness center, salon, spa and a chapel.

Building on the finish standards that they have developed for previous Bethesda Health projects, Spellman Brady created an overall design concept for Hawthorne Place that has refreshing transitional aesthetics, bold and comfortable with color.  They achieved this by utilizing a warm-neutral color palette with pops of tangerine, navy, and aqua colors.  The finishes are complemented with millwork, furniture and light fixtures that feature clean, crisp lines of timeless simplicity.

When visitors enter the facility, they are greeted by a reception desk accented in front of a stone wall which features lighting to showcase the Hawthorne Place logo.  As they move through the space, they encounter bright and open community spaces that are visually tied together through the use of white millwork columns, trim work, ceiling moldings and details that are rich in detail, yet sophisticated and restrained.

Adjacent to the larger community spaces are smaller-scaled specialized function rooms – such as the library, chapel, hearth rooms, sitting parlor and private dining rooms – which are discreetly defined by the use of custom sliding doors.  The sliding glass doors are detailed in the same crisp white wood as the rest of the project’s millwork and look like large windows to open up, yet create privacy for those areas.  In addition to opening-up floor space by eliminating area for door swings, the glass sliders allow residents visual contact with the variety of activities and add a classic contemporary architectural element.

To help maximize the facility’s inviting sense of home, hearth rooms have a working fireplace with white coordinating fireplace surround, detailed millwork columns, coffered ceiling and a custom carpet to look like an area rug.  All dining rooms have a custom-built hydration station, a design feature wall constructed of acrylic and wood materials with an adjacent activity space for smaller group sessions.

For the Memory Support and the Assisted Living households, Spellman Brady used the different color palettes to give each household its own identity, while still maintaining an overall cohesive feel for the facility.  To reinforce a residential feel in the Assisted Living corridors, custom carpet designs were utilized with “area rug designs” inserted at apartment entries which also help residents identify their unit.  For the Memory Support household, four differently detailed resident entry door styles were painted various colors which help residents to remember apartment location, as well as serve as a wayfinding tool.

Lisa Reynolds, Executive Director of Bethesda Hawthorne Place, attributes the facility’s interiors as part of the reason for the project exceeding its opening occupancy projections.  She recently said this about prospective resident’s reactions to the interiors.  “This community is so beautiful and welcoming that it sells itself.  We are offering the services that they need and want in a setting that is not only beautiful but calm, comforting and feels like home from the minute they walk in.  It takes their breath away and instantly calms the fears and doubts about having to make this transition in their life.  What an awesome accomplishment!”

In addition to Spellman Brady, the project team consisted of three other St. Louis firms – The Lawrence Group, architects for the project; Paric, the project’s general contractor; and Hercules Construction, construction manager. 

Bethesda Health Group provides exceptional senior living, care and services through its retirement communities, skilled nursing home communities and home and community based programs, which place equal focus on quality and value.   

Spellman Brady & Company is a St. Louis–based interior design firm specializing in Senior Living, Healthcare, and Higher Education environments.