Erickson Retirement Community
Charlestown* is a Continuing Care Retirement Community located just south of Baltimore, MD. Charlestown was a seminary and the training grounds for the Baltimore Colts, until purchased by John Erickson. The development company was initially called Retirement and Health Services, then Senior Campus Living, and now, Erickson Retirement Communities.
Working and designing on the Charlestown campus was unique, because it was a living model for future projects, and allowed for the Design Department to experience a senior facility first hand. They could spend time learning from the residents and staff directly about what could be improved. This unique situation enabled the design team to continually refine the CCRC’s physical environment to better support the community staff’s work environment and resulted in improved quality of life and improved outcomes for residents.
Understanding the importance of communication between design and operations is a key and yet often missed criteria in the project design process. This was made clear to Jane while she was working on the Charlestown campus and inspired her to found JSR Associates, Inc., whose main objective is to assist clients to close the gap between design and operational needs. For Jane and her clients, the ultimate goal is to create improved environments for residents through good design.
*Planning and design was completed while Jane Rohde of JSR Associates, Inc. was Vice President of Design for Erickson Retirement Communities.