When renovating an occupied senior living community, the goal is always to lessen the impact on the community and residents’ daily lives. 

There are a completely different set of challenges that arise when planning renovations and reconstruction projects for occupied seniors housing. It is highly specialized and requires a different mindset and attitude when planning and completing this type of project.

“You can’t just bring any general contractor from the commercial construction industry into a senior living community.” - Lucas McCurdy

With any highly specific project, having a company that specializes will give you the best results. This includes the senior living industry. The Bridge Group Construction is a general contractor specializing in senior living and has the expertise your project needs.

Talk to The Bridge Group Construction about your renovation project today.

Two Key Actions to Increase Resident Buy-In for Community Renovation Projects

Renovations affect the whole community, and having active engagement in creating an updated space for everyone to enjoy can start the project off on a positive and optimistic foot. When planning a community renovation, The Bridge Group Construction highly encourages getting the whole community involved to generate resident buy-in. 

A big way to accomplish this is holding a town hall meeting for the community. This allows residents to voice their concerns and get answers to their questions quickly and in a productive manner. 

A design mock-up or vision board posted in front of or outside space is another great way to gain resident and team member support and excitement. Being able to visualize the results of the renovation, before it is completed, helps residents and employees of the community be able to make future plans and see themselves in the new space.

Renovating Common Spaces

Renovating common spaces is a noted challenge for occupied senior living communities. Knowing how these spaces are used and preparing timelines are key to our planning process. Different phases impact different areas and planning accordingly to work around important times and dates makes all the difference. Communicating these plans and phases in advance and then sticking to the set schedule is important for resident expectation as well as functionality for management and staff.

“Some areas are sensitive or high traffic, often we will perform the work at night because it has less impact on the community.” - Lucas McCurdy

The Bridge Group Construction will do what it takes to ensure little interruption, even when working at night was the best option for high traffic areas. When there isn’t a way to operate around an area, making sure those areas are available when communities need them is just one of the ways The Bridge Group stands apart in the senior living industry.

Creating a Positive Impact on Residents and the Community

Our focus is to make a positive impact on residents, team members, and communities during our time renovating. We strive to do this in a few ways. Having a great attitude and acting in a responsible and respectful manner sets the foundation for a positive construction environment and impact. With the foundation in place, our planning and protocols ensure a perfect process for creating a positive impact on communities while The Bridge Group Construction is there completing renovations and for years after the project is complete.

Resident Safety

Resident safety is always a top priority. With this as our framework, we train our construction crews to be able to perform complicated work inside occupied residential areas. These include sectioning off work, putting away material and tools when they are not actively being used, and even creating temporary walls when needed to protect residents in memory care communities. This is a different way of thinking about commercial construction projects, but comes as second nature to The Bridge Group crews with our experience and expertise in the senior living industry.

Keeping Everyone Informed

The Bridge Group utilizes a portal called BuilderTrend, which allows owners, operators, and key stakeholders 24/7 access to all the details surrounding a project. This includes scope, plans, scheduling, and phasing. The Project Managers also upload a daily report to the portal, with the work completed that day, photos, highlights and concerns, and the next steps for the project.

The Bridge Group Construction also holds weekly OAC (Owner Architect Contractor) calls to go over every detail. This allows the project to stay on the 3 main goals.

• On time
• On budget
• Minimal Disruption

Benefit of Renovations in Occupied Senior Living Communities

At The Bridge Group Construction, we take pride in seeing the reactions residents have to their updated, refreshed communities. Hearing the stories of how they love their new home and updated space makes every aspect of these specialized projects worth it. It allows us to positively impact someone’s life for years to come. 

‍Talk to The Bridge Group about your renovation project today.