Case Study Center at Arrowhead

When The Center at Arrowhead (The Center) opened its doors in 2015, its goal was to provide exceptional care for patients, while making them feel at home.

The exterior design had to be aligned with this objective. With a warm, wooden finish and clean design, the architects at TreanorHL, Denver, Colorado, knew Nichiha’s VintageWood was the best fit for the job.

“We really wanted to try to achieve a nice approachable building,” said the project’s architect, Curtis Hendershott, TreanorHL. “It feels somewhat like you’re going into a hospital setting but with a little more residential feel. The Nichiha [VintageWood] helped us achieve that look.”

Being a skilled nursing facility, patients typically choose to be admitted to The Center after a hospital stay, while recovering from illness or injury. After spending so much time in medical offices, Hendershott wanted warm, natural elements to be a part of the curb appeal for new visitors. “We were looking for something that would give more of a wood-siding type look and [have] long term durability so there wouldn’t be a maintenance problem a few years down the road,” he said.

With The Center located in sunny Glendale, Arizona, the hot climate was a huge factor in the building’s design. Horizontal panels of Nichiha’s VintageWood in the color “bark” are used on the front of the building, as well as two prominent stair case structures on each side of the facility. With desert-like conditions, the product is in direct sunlight for most of the day.

“We did quite a bit of investigation with some [other] Nichiha projects that have been completed to make sure we weren’t going to see a breakdown in color or warpage,” said Hendershott. “We haven’t had any problems.”

Wes Loyet, a project superintendent with construction engineering company Kitchell, Phoenix, Arizona, noted that choosing Nichiha was also helpful in meeting the energy codes for the front section of the building. “Looking at the building, we have to have a minimum value for the external insulating factor. In the areas where you have Nichiha, you essentially have a fiber insulation.”

Loyet also noted that from a contractor’s standpoint, Nichiha has the quality to meet both an architect’s and engineer’s needs.

“Nichiha is a good architectural product and it’s heavy duty,” he said. “It’s definitely a unique product. I would imagine that [Nichiha] is bulletproof when it comes to dealing with other kinds of weather factors too. It’s pretty resilient.”

Since The Center opened, three other skilled nursing facilities operated by their parent company, Veritas Management Group, have been developed in the Midwest. With each location, patients have been able to receive the rehabilitative care they need, without feeling like they are in a sterile environment. To the design team, that’s a win.

As Loyet best summed it up, “These buildings don’t have that kind of hospital look and feel. They have a very warm feeling to them.”

“We really wanted to try to achieve a nice approachable building. It feels somewhat like you’re going into a hospital setting but with a little more residential feel. The Nichiha [VintageWood] helped us achieve that look.”

Curtis Hendershott Architect, TreanorHL