Handel Architects Conceives of a Luxurious Senior Living Space in New York

2021 Best of Year winner for Senior Living

The high-rise residential building at 1802 2nd Avenue on Manhattan’s Upper East Side is very exclusive: You must be a senior citizen to get in. Inspír is the flagship property for Maplewood Senior Living’s new brand, with 209 units that provide assisted-living care in an elegant setting formulated with residents’ unique needs in mind, crafted by Handel Architects. Luxurious, hand-crafted details abound, many of which cleverly hide special accommodations. For example, bright, naturally colored stones on accent walls serve as way-finding signage for the visually impaired, and furniture is specifically dimensioned to promote mobility.

A huge mass of yellow and green onyx rises in the two-story lobby, reminiscent of the colors of nature, a constant source of inspiration for the 217,000-square-foot project. Through a partnership with Rusk Rehabilitation’s Horticultural Therapy Program at NYU Langone Health, the building is filled with gardens that residents can tend, in order to reap the rewards of stress relief and improved cognition that caring for plants can bring. There’s one in the center of the ground-floor restaurant, an upscale setting for residents and guests furnished with gold-finished pendant fixtures, forest-green velvet chairs, and leather banquettes. In fact, family and friends are welcome at nearly all the building’s shared amenity spaces, including the 16th-floor lounge, inviting with a fireplace and wraparound terrace. It all helps seniors stay connected with nature, the city, and others.

Handel Architects: Frank Fusaro; Elga Killinger; Thomas Florkewicz; Shima Miabadi; Paul Campoverde; John Hsu; Tina Kothari