Baker Barrios Architects completed the construction of a 32,248-square foot Veterans Affairs domiciliary in Detroit. The building also includes 50 transitional housing units, a computer laboratory, therapy rooms, a clubhouse, indoor multipurpose spaces and administrative offices. The property was originally constructed in 2008 and used to house the corporate offices of the Michigan Basic Property Insurance Association.
The project supports the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center’s mission by providing a safe place with programming that helps veterans, male and female, to live independently.
Ten of the 50 residential units are secure rooms for female veterans. They have access to a lounge and laundry room, as well as access to a male-only lounge. 40 units are reserved for male residents. All residents have access the computer lab, which offers job-training and computer programs; the multipurpose spaces, which offer social and recreational programming; a modern clinic that offers behavioral and mental health counseling, rehabilitation, and wellness programming; as well as the dining room, which serves daily meals for residents and visitors.
The large dome atrium in the common dining room is one of many design elements that were incorporated throughout the building to maximize natural light. This is a great example of how the design elements are beneficial for both resident wellbeing and energy efficiency.
The oldest health care program in the Department of Veterans Affairs is the Domiciliary Care Program. It is now integrated with VA’s Mental Health Residential Rehabilitation and Treatment Program. The program was established in the 1860s to provide a place for Civil War disabled soldiers. It evolved from a residential-only program to an active clinical rehabilitation program and treatment program. The residential component integrates clinical treatment gains into a lifestyle that emphasizes self-care and personal responsibility.
This is the fifth project Baker Barrios Architects have completed for the VA over the past four years. Other projects include renovations of the VA Community Living Resource Center and the VA Women’s Health Clinic in West Palm Beach, Fla., and an adaptive reused big-box retail centre into a Community Based Outpatient Center (North Pinellas, Fla.). Ground-up design for a Community Based Outpatient Center (Saginaw, Mich.) which included an ophthalmology clinic as well as multiple audiology booths.