ZHOBAI Medical Technology Group officially handed over the keys to Maplewood Senior Living last Friday. This 15,200㎡, 180-bed long-term care home in East Vancouver is our first big North American project, and we delivered it 2 days ahead of schedule and 12.3% under budget. Oh, and we fixed 17 critical design flaws that three previous Canadian suppliers had completely missed.
This project was supposed to open in January. But six months out, the original local furniture supplier bailed. They’d designed everything off generic hospital blueprints, not senior care specs, and refused to change a single thing unless we doubled their contract price.
By the time they called us, Maplewood had already lost $180,000 in pre-booked deposits and was facing fines from the provincial health authority for missing the opening date.
Our lead designer, Lisa, flew out the next morning. She didn’t bring a laptop full of catalogs. She brought a notebook, a tape measure, and a pair of comfortable shoes. For 7 straight days, she shadowed caregivers from 6 AM (when morning shifts start) to 8 PM (after dinner). She helped feed residents, change linens, and push wheelchairs. She watched a 92-year-old woman named Marge fall because a chair slid out from under her. She counted how many times caregivers had to bend over to reach supplies in cabinets that were mounted too high.
By the end of the week, she had a list of 23 changes. None of them were in the original blueprints.
We lowered all 180 nursing beds from 80cm to exactly 75cm – the height physical therapists say is easiest for seniors to push themselves up from. We added 10cm wider grab bars on both sides, not just one.
All dining chairs weigh 12.2kg (twice as heavy as standard) so they don’t slide or tip. The armrests are exactly 65cm high – the perfect height to push yourself up without straining your shoulders.
We cut 10cm off every bathroom countertop so residents in wheelchairs can reach the sinks. Every corner is rounded to a 50mm radius – no sharp edges anywhere.
We installed double handrails in every hallway: one at 85cm for people who can walk, and one at 65cm for people in wheelchairs.
Two weeks before our shipment was supposed to dock, the Port of Vancouver workers voted to strike. Most companies would have pushed the opening back 6 weeks. We didn’t.
Our logistics manager, Mike, rerouted the containers to the Port of Seattle overnight. We arranged a dedicated trucking team to drive the 232 kilometers from Seattle to Vancouver. The whole thing cost us $12,470 out of our own pocket. We didn’t tell Sarah until the trucks were already crossing the border.
发表回复