Boston, MA —The National Association of Home Builders has named Waterstone at Wellesley, a new senior living community in Wellesley, Massachusetts, its 2013 gold award winner for Excellence in Senior Housing Design. The award was presented at the trade association’s annual national conference recently held in Las Vegas.
Designed by Elkus Manfredi Architects, Waterstone is a joint venture of National Development of Newton and EPOCH Senior Living of Waltham. Ted Tye, managing partner of National Development, was on hand to accept the award, which recognizes excellence in innovation, emerging trends, and quality housing building, design, marketing, and lifestyles.
Located along the banks of the Charles River in Wellesley, Waterstone has attracted seniors from throughout the region since it opened in May 2012. The Waterstone community includes 134 independent and assisted living rental apartments, a fitness center, a pool, a movie theater, five-star restaurant-style dining, designer kitchens, a riverfront walking trail, and more. In addition to the two residential buildings, the Waterstone campus includes a third building housing retail and medical office space. The design objective of the project was to offer the latest design developments specific to enriching senior living, while also raising the quality of the senior living building type to a new level of non-institutional livability, appeal, and independent architectural character.
Tye said the Waterstone team is honored to have received this prestigious recognition: “We took a historic site in a prime riverfront location in Wellesley that had been abandoned for nearly 20 years and turned it into a jewel of the community,” he said. “We incorporated the industrial mill history of this area into the building’s design to create something that blends well with the existing architecture in the community.”
The features that secured Waterstone’s gold medal include its ground-breaking senior-living design offering private porches in each unit for access to the outdoors; an accessible riverfront walking path with raised gardens; and upscale, homelike interiors featuring New England craftsmanship; as well as its wide selection of gourmet dining options and fitness program. Elkus Manfredi was responsible for all exterior and interior architecture. Interior design was provided by Wellesley Design Associates and landscape architecture by Stantec’s Boston office.