The Newbury of Brookline was truly a team effort. The premiere senior living facility by Kisco Senior Living was a collaboration with Design Architect Robert A.M. Stern Architects and Interior Designer Pembrooke and Ives. Principal Ellen Anselone shares her experience working in this team and what made the Newbury a unique project for the firm.

Q: What was your role, and what did you do on the project?

I was the Principal-in-Charge on the project.

Q; How did collaboration with RAMSA and Pembrooke and Ives impact the design and construction process of the Mitton House?

Our relationship with RAMSA was great because it was very much a team effort. We had the same goals, and there was a lot of back and forth to ensure that their design intent was followed, and I believe they appreciated our efforts. It was a good relationship, and we look forward to another opportunity to partner again.

Q: Was this collaboration different than other collaborations you’ve worked on in the past? How so?

The collaboration process can change between projects, and it also depends on what the client wants. For the division of responsibilities for the Newbury, RAMSA had their hand in the exteriors and Pembrooke and Ives designed the interiors. RAMSA led the design portion of the project, and then once it went into construction documents, Finegold Alexander was the lead. Another project of ours, the 200 Clarendon Street Amenities Space, we are working with the Rockwell Group, who is completely in charge of every aspect of the design except for the back of house. Our role for the project has been to implement their design intent. So, it also has a clear separation of the work. In the end, the goal and success is to work as a team, which we achieved.

Q: How did your role affect your perspective on how the design was created then executed?

With my years of preservation and restoration experience, I knew what we could do, what we cannot do, and what we should do. For example, we had these cast iron decorative elements at the front of the Mitton House, and I pushed to have them restored because I knew I've done it in the past. No one wanted to do it, originally, but they ended up including them because that's what the local preservation group wanted. They came out beautifully!

The knowledge of our entire team provided the best approaches to preservation and what is achievable and what most likely is not, based on the firm’s decades of experience.

Q: How did you work with each collaborator to achieve harmony on the campus between your work on a historic renovation next to their new construction?

Meeting weekly with the RAMSA team helped look at how the Mitton House related to the bigger picture of the whole project. We did work very closely with Pembrooke and Ives on the interiors to bring threads of similar materials and color into the spaces of both the new construction and the Mitton House.

Q: As Finegold Alexander’s first senior living project, how does The Newbury differ when working on a senior living facility versus other housing project?

Because the Newbury included independent living, memory care, and assisted living, it differed by each type of unit. Independent living is very similar to multifamily housing. For assisted living, there can be different design elements added or to ensure spaces are the right size for those in wheelchairs, for example. Memory care is very specific about what is required in the units. They're very minimal, typically smaller without a kitchen because it’s a very different level of care.

Senior living will often have more amenity spaces than multifamily housing. There are kitchens and cafeterias, in-house planned activities, art rooms, salons, etc. They have everything on the property, including green spaces. The Newbury is across the street from a large park, so residents have nature close by.

Read more about The Newbury of Brookline from Project Architect Leah Wolkovich-Quartey here and Finegold Alexander’s approach to senior living and multifamily housing here.