Driven by a combination of facility competition and customer preference, developing quality built environments in a senior-living facility has become an important focus for the service providers. Limited is known regarding specific environmental design principles significant to facility competitiveness in the current state-of-art of development. From providing environmental supports of active living (including both physical and social activities), the benefits include enhanced resident well-being and eventually promoted facility competitiveness. This research investigates the associations between environmental design principals, residents’ physical and social activities, and reported facility competitiveness.Case studies of 57 senior-living facilities in California and Virginia are conducted through on-site observations, face-face interviews, and an online questionnaire survey of facility officers and coordinators. Key attributes of facility design are summarized and measured at the site and building levels, including the factors of site planning, building layout, vertical configuration, and interior decoration. The Statistical Package for the Social Sciences are used to analyze objective data and identify significant factors. Content analyses are conducted to investigate participants’ suggestions and preferences. Keywords and themes are identified. The presence of destinations for walking on the property, a self-described building layout, good visual and physical access to the outdoors, homey interior decorations and amenities contribute to residents’ active living and facility competitiveness. The results will be discussed through the eyes of architects and academic researchers working together to examine what it means to design for facility competitiveness. Innovated design approaches are emphasized. Creditable research findings and design experiences are included.
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