Washington State Department of
Veterans Affairs—Roosevelt Hall

Orting, WA

Feasibility Study

  • SAGE Architectural Alliance was retained by the Wa State Department of Veteran Affairs (WSDVA) and the University of Washington Northwest Center for Livable Communities (NWCLC)
  • Goal: to determine the feasibility of using the historic Roosevelt Barracks to house a program for traumatic brain injury (TBI) veterans and veterans transitioning from homelessness.

State-of-the-Art TBI Rehabilitation Facility

  • As experts in design for aging, SAGE is experienced in small-house skilled nursing care for memory care and frail seniors. For those with mild TBI or those who are working on issues related to transitioning back to community, the small-house atmosphere is also ideal.

Visioning Workshop

  • SAGE led a discussion around envisioning a State-of-the-Art Rehabilitation facility. The WSDVA visioning group agreed that “households” of 10 TBI residents would be ideal. The heart of the design would be the country kitchen/ dining room. Here residents would practice domestic and social skills they need for returning to community life.
  • In the second half of the study, SAGE explored the new construction alternate of four 10-person homes plus commons building, clustered in a community.

Transitional Housing

  • SAGE found that Roosevelt Barracks was well-suited to the program for veterans transitioning from long-term homelessness. It was envisioned that these program participants would eat meals in the large mess hall and spend much of their time in work programs on or off-campus.