ASSISTED LIVING NOMINEE

MorningStar Senior Living at Old Town

Morningstar Old Town, a new urban design concept in historic downtown Fort Collins, Colorado, showcases many senior living trends. The project offers spaces for social happiness in the rich amenities offered, promotes health and wellness with a pool for exercise, yoga and fitness for health, classes and community-based activities for personal well-being, flexible spaces where socialization can be paramount and utilizing the outdoors for further enrichment. This is balanced by architectural design that is fresh and modern with historical references that help residents feel familiar with their surroundings.

City/State:
Fort Collins, CO
Date of Completion:
06/2023
Project Size (Sq. ft)
282,148 SF
Owner:
Haselden Development / MorningStar Senior Living
Operator:
MorningStar Senior Living
Architect:
Hord Coplan Macht
Interior Design Firm:
Thoma-Holec Design
Builder/Contractor:
Haselden Construction

As a continuation of College Avenue, where 2-, 3-, and 4story masonry and clapboard buildings sit close to the street and are energized by quaint shops, local restaurants, and pubs. The project repeats the scale and pattern of the urban fabric in Fort Collins with retail anchoring the pedestrian ground plane and residences above

On the southern half of the first level, the new commercial retail space will echo this language. It is designed to be open and airy with a gracious amount of storefront and crowned by a metal signage canopy serving as a marquee for signage. Patio space is provided for eateries and bars to open to the Colorado sunshine. The streetscape along College Avenue has landscaped raised planters and patterned sidewalks to accessorize the urban building

The alley serves as the focal point, where a hospitalityinspired modern portecochere makes you feel like you have arrived at an urban boutique hotel. The entry is inviting and light, with long views through the Bistro, Club room and lounge areas outward to views of College Avenue, where another outdoor patio is located for resident activities and socialization. A separate parking structure across this alley services both residents and the retail public

The project spans a full block in length, but the overall mass is broken down into small rhythmic shapes, using balconies, window patterning and undulation in plane to reduce the scale and to add shadow and interest. The building composition is organized around three palettes of materials, as if the building was developed over time

Exterior and interior materials have a sophisticated, warm palette of finishes, using wood panel, brick and accent fiber cement panels and siding. Window fenestration design is intended to suggest historical reference with a fresh modern detail. Masonry is the primary material, with two different yet complementary brick colors, one strategically placed on the northern half, and one on the south. This breaks down the overall scale and suggests the composite uses within these areas of the building. The center section has its own language, both stepping back from the main façade and setting back as the building raises in height. The zoning regulations in Fort Collins require a step back in plane at the fourth level of a building; Morningstar Old Town optimizes this constraint and turns it into a resident amenity where the upper floors can have large private patio spaces for Colorado residents to enjoy panoramic views of the Rocky Mountains beyond