2023 Best of Year Winner for Senior Living

The great fifth-century Chinese poet and politician Toa Yuanming is famed for the tranquility, contentment, and joy he found in a long rural retirement. His spirit infuses Rugao Shen Cheng Nursing Home in Nantong, China—a transformed six-story, 115,000-square-foot building by Vermilion Zhou Design Group—which aims at providing a similar sense of peaceful fulfillment and secure well-being for its more than 300 residents. Materials and colors throughout the 164-room facility are warm and homey, with a honeyed tonal palette enlivened by a range of textures: blond wood-effect veneers for millwork and some walls; polished stone flooring in the lobby, nylon carpeting or adhesive vinyl elsewhere; and reeded-glass or ribbed felted-wool panels in public and private areas. All the furniture is custom, with the ubiquitous stackable light-frame armchairs, upholstered in sage green, a particular standout, as are the inviting sofa benches strategically located in community spaces and waiting zones.

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PROJECT TEAM

Kuang ming (ray) chou; ting ho; garvin hung; jim wang; chen hu; chang song li; yu xuan li; vera chu; chia huang liao; qikai zhang.