Bell Tower West Skilled Nursing Facility

Long Term Care Investments reached out to JPR to design the Bell Tower West Skilled Nursing Facility in Merrillville, Indiana. This 9.47-acre development features five small housing units with 12 beds each, along with a community center to serve the facility.

JPR navigated the project through the PUD process. A primary challenge in this project was the design of on-site stormwater retention using low-impact development strategies. Using catch basins, curb inlets and curb cuts, stormwater will be collected and directed to an on-site retention basin located at the low end of the site to the south. This low-impact development strategy utilizes vegetated swales, filter strips, and native revegetation along the slopes of the retention basin.

The sanitary sewage is collected on-site with gravity flow to a lift station located at the northwest corner of the site. From the lift station, a force main connects to the Merrillville Conservancy District sanitary sewer manhole located approximately 230-feet to the west.

JPR also designed a layout solution that incorporated a dozen beds and the required code amenities into a small house, while maintaining use of the maximum allowed square footage. In addition to overcoming the layout challenge, JPR architects achieved a homelike look and feel while meeting all lighting and safety requirements that typically have a more institutional feel.

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