My first Magazine St Joseph's Home_40th Anniversary magazine.compres | Page 34

Serving to
Change
“I was also thinking of
escalators and whatever that
could make their walking easier.
The home should also be a place
of formation. On weekends, it
should go back to the church
where catechism, children and
spiritual formation are our priority.”
“All these came to me even
before I visited any eldercare
homes overseas. But then I
thought ok better to see if these
ideas are feasible, so that’s when
we were sent overseas to view
similar models. They tell me my
vision is such and such a model
and I have never even heard of
them before.”
“I thought about what the
seniors of 5 to 10 years from
now would like and one of the
things is water. Having swum
more regularly and having
gone on river and sea cruises
which the previous generation
probably never did or did so
much of, I thought having a
hydropool to provide water
therapy would be useful.
It’s not cheap and requires
maintenance but it will be
popular.”
Going to Glow
On the sunny Tuesday morning of
31 May 2016, the final structural
piece was placed atop St
Joseph’s Home and staff and
partners celebrated in a topping
out ceremony.
“I had also gone round to ask
the residents what part of the old
home they would like to keep and
they told me ‘Just give us a piece
of green’. So in the new home,
you will see that every floor has a
bit of greenery. Each level is also
designed with wide open spaces,
like the ground floor, for residents
to wander about, so they need not
come downstairs if they choose
not to.
The home is also built to be
future-proof.
SETTLING INTO THE NEW
MANDAI HOME
32 | St Joseph’s Home
The Challenges
Building a home three times as
big as the former inevitably poses
design challenges.
From the start, the team opted
for an open concept which meant
exposing the residents’ rooms
to the elements. “We wanted
them to befriend nature and
so I challenged the architect
to find a way to do it well,” says
Sr Geraldine. “That’s why if you
notice, the rooms are all slanted
to one side and there are planters
on the ledge of the building.”