A three-phase repositioning and renovation effort at the Mason Pointe Assisted Living and Memory Support campus near St. Louis has modernized the community and helps to meet the needs of today’s senior living customers who represent the “future of senior living.”
The repositioning project reconfigured 205 units into 147 units offering 30 unique unit types spanning assisted living and memory care. The project also modernized the community’s dining, outdoor and activity spaces. Some additions included circadian lighting, a living wall of plants and interactive equipment for those experiencing cognitive change.
The project, which was a “smart repositioning for modern needs,” transformed the campus with studio, one-bedroom and two-bedroom spaces to meet the growing need for larger, modernized units in assisted living and memory care. The modernized community includes designs that meet the needs of existing and future residents that demand privacy, flexibility and a “true sense of home.”
Through the repositioning, staff worked to overcome challenges in maintaining community life during construction and the finished community includes inviting lounges, welcoming dining areas and activity spaces for various events and social programs. Upgrades included lighting improvements, digital memory boxes for residents and a redesigned layout to offer better wayfinding for those living with dementia or cognitive change.
St. Louis-based nonprofit provider EverTrue oversaw the community’s transformation with project partners including architecture firm The Lawrence Group, interior design by LNB Studio and contractor BSI Contractors.
For these reasons, Mason Pointe received the first place award in the 2025 Senior Housing News Architecture & Design Awards category for “Best Repositioning: Campus.”
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Meeting the demands of today’s senior living customers is easier said than done, and in recent years, many operators have made physical plant changes to their communities to keep up with demand and consumer preferences. Today, senior living residents value their independence and require personalized amenities and services that can improve engagement and wellbeing of residents.
“This renovation was something we needed to reposition ourselves to accommodate all the wants and needs that our residents have,” said Mason Pointe Executive Director Julia Cissell Buchler. “We want to help them move through the continuum with the most dignity and have the best wellness experience through offering enrichment.”
The project planners’ primary goal was to create a “home-like environment” while residents progressed in acuity and needed additional support in assisted living and memory care. The design process was a “deliberate and evidence-based effort” that looked into how physical design can impact mood and health, while also emphasizing “purposeful and functional” design elements, Cissell Buchler said.
“The most challenging part in design was combining existing units and using them in the most efficient way,” said Lawrence Group Senior Associate Julie Spengler. “Trying to mesh those together with the right mix was a challenge.”
To overcome this, the design team worked closely with EverTrue to determine the proper unit mix for the community, while also redesigning the space to meet assisted living standards from the bones of a building originally constructed for skilled nursing, according to EverTrue Architect Todd Hageman.
The 135,000-square-foot multi-phase project represents a neighborhood transformation that rebalanced the campus to better serve the needs of higher acuity older adults while also elevating the daily experience, Spengler said.
The redesign includes assisted living, memory support and skilled nursing segments that are organized into distinct program zones that are connected by a central circulation spine that helps improve flow of the campus and promote wayfinding for those with cognitive change.
Outdoor spaces were another crucial part of the project’s design, with the redesigned Harmony Garden anchored by a gazebo and pavilion with outdoor musical elements that help create a multi-sensory experience for older adults in a secure setting. Hallways, residences and common areas were all renovated as part of the repositioning project, bringing the campus from having an institutional feel with drop ceilings and long sightlines to creating brighter interiors with wood-like vinyl flooring accompanied by a warm color palette.
“We wanted to create a space where residents could walk through and feel like it was all connected like a neighborhood,” said Senior Interior Designer Karen Smith. “We wanted to also add elements that brought nature indoors and create stopping points within the community itself.”
It was important to balance the social energy of the shared areas, with spaces like the “Tranquility Room” offering respite and emotional regulation while the “Learning & Growing Space” was designed as a flexible forum with bright, open floor plan that supports group programming, Smith said. Other points of interest within the community include a “living wall” of indoor plants and activity spaces with sensory equipment.
“It was important to create these purposeful destinations throughout the entire community,” Cissell Buchler said.
The construction
Construction for the repositioning of Mason Pointe spanned three phases and took two and a half years to complete, but the project was completed on budget, project stakeholders told SHN.
The most challenging aspect during construction was maintaining a daily routine while construction was actively happening, as the community had to move residents from multiple units while renovations occurred, Cissell Buchler said.
“It was a huge, extensive effort and it’s a testament to the relationship we have with our residents and families that they trusted us to help them move through this journey with us,” Cissell Buchler said. “It affects every single operational layer and it’s adjusting staffing to accommodate the changes.”
Residents were moved from residences into temporary units while construction happened, which was a “labor of love” while also navigating the requirements of daily operations at a senior living community amid the construction work.
Residents also got in on the action, at least in a sense. Construction teams designated a resident living at the community as the project’s honorary construction superintendent. The resident even got a hardhat for their work, Hageman said.
A design element that was added after construction started included upgraded circadian rhythm lighting to help older adults living with dementia adjust to parts of the day, while also adding in the “living wall” component, Hageman said. Another added element included the “Windows to the World” display wall that can show images of destinations around the world to help residents experience far away destinations.
The first phase was completed in January of 2024, followed by the second phase in February of 2025 and the final phase in October of 2025.
“The reason why construction was so successful was the communication between all stakeholders,” Hageman said.
“The communication was phenomenal and it made the construction process go very well.”
The completion
After the dust settled at the end of last year, residents and families were able to experience the full scope of the new Mason Pointe campus.
Popular amenities include the fitness center, art studio and social gathering space—combining physical, mental and creative wellness into the community’s new daily rhythm, Cissell Buchler said, with the finished product “exceeding our expectations.”
While unable to share specific occupancy data, Cissell Buchler said the community was “doing very well” following the final phase of renovations.
“We are thriving,” Cissell Buchler said. “The residents have shared such positive feedback and it’s a focal point for people wanting to tour EverTrue communities.”
In scoring the community, SHN Architecture and Design Award judges noted the community’s commitment to adding amenities for memory care. Aptura Managing Partner Chris Frommell said the project was a “very nice renovation.”
“The before and after photos show a dramatic improvement in brightness and stimulating spaces and amenities,” Frommell said. “The addition of musical elements in the courtyard serves to make that more interactive and attractive.”
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