Hillcrest Convalescent Center

A unique senior living environment that support of a full-scale healthcare facility with the comforts of home.

Hillcrest Convalescent Center is a unique senior living environment that marries the support of a full-scale healthcare facility with the comforts of home. So when the Durham, North Carolina-based center needed to add a second floor and renovate sections of the facility, they started a project that would last more than five years. Working closely with Jane Cramer of the Cramer & Wilson design team, Hillcrest’s administrators wanted to do more than renovate their facility, they looked to Milliken to help make residents feel at home – not like they were living in an institution.

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. When assistant administrator Val Smith was looking for a flooring solution to meet Hillcrest’s needs, she came across an advertisement for Milliken. “After seeing the Designed for Senior Living Collection, I made sure Jane brought the Milliken team on board,” comments Val Smith. Jane speaks to the direction she received from Hillcrest. “They envisioned the four wings of the facility coming together with images of brick, grass and pebbles on the floor. We

also wanted to incorporate blues, yellows and greens throughout the design. Milliken was the only manufacturer who could step up to offer a customizable carpet solution to match our vision."

The Hillcrest design project called for the unique requirements of:

•50,000 yards of carpet installed

•Pebbled path, brick road and grass patterns available standard in the Designed for Senior Living Collection

•Custom blue and yellow colors created for this project

•Floor design offered means of way-finding for guests

"We had a story to tell with this carpet design. We wanted to give residents and guests a ‘town square’ feel to this space, while keeping an image of elegance,” explains David Potter, a Milliken associate.

Broadloom carpet offered the best flooring solution over the former hard surfaces throughout Hillcrest. Following the “household concept,” this senior living environment needed to offer a healthcare-meets-hospitality design. Carpet provides a safer floor for senior residents, and is quieter and more comforting underfoot than alternative solutions. In addition, the Milliken broadloom carpet chosen for Hillcrest offers ease of maintenance benefits, vital antimicrobial protection and the ability to withstand cart and wheelchair traffic.

During the installation, Milliken overcame challenges with 14 different borders, and worked to provide very little disruption to the live-in residents. In the end, Jane Cramer explains, “I was blown away by the results. We had a vision before we ever looked at flooring."

“Milliken was an instrumental part of the design process. Not only did they offer products that were perfect for Hillcrest, the associates we worked with were incredibly helpful and flexible with the needs of the project.”

- Jane Cramer, principal at Cramer & Wilson

“Milliken took our ideas and made them a reality with a product offering that met the needs of the overall facility design. They understood Hillcrest’s position as a place of elegance and exceptional level of care.”

- Jane Cramer, principal at Cramer & Wilson