VILLAGE LANE, Daly City, CA and HARRISON AVENUE, San Mateo, CA

These two projects, done simultaneously for the same client, are adaptive re-uses of single family homes into affordable congregate care homes for bedridden residents. The challenge was to convert the conventionally laid-out homes, with narrow hallways, small bathrooms, and split-levels, into new group homes that met stringent requirements for maneuvering bedridden clients in and out of the facility, and of course within the homes, including large, roll-in showers. All of this was made more complicated by the need to operate on a shoe-string budget, which required that major structural and utilities changes be minimized.

Mayers Architecture removed walls, creating plans where bedrooms surrounded common area spaces, with access to floor-level outdoor decks. Mechanized transfer devices are located in all bedrooms and in the bathroom, and 42” wide doorways, shallow ramps, and wood floors make it easier for caregivers to move residents around.