The Spires at Berry College
Rome, Georgia
Completion Date: 2020
Developer: Greenbrier Development
Architect: THW Design
General Contractor: Brasfield & Gorrie LLC
The Spires at Berry College is a retirement community located in Rome, Georgia, thoughtfully situated on the grounds of Martha Berry’s family farm. This site is where Martha Berry established Berry College in 1902, an institution that began with only five students and has grown into over 2,000 undergraduates. The Spires draws its inspiration from this legacy, blending history, and purpose into a modern environment designed to support residents through every stage of retirement.
Those who call the community home benefit from a comprehensive range of living options and care services, from independent living to assisted living, memory care, skilled nursing, and short-term rehabilitation all within one connected campus. The development features 170 independent living residences, including 26 free-standing cottage homes. The variety of residential and health services required careful coordination to ensure comfort, safety, and adaptability across the campus while maintaining a cohesive design approach.
Jordan & Skala Engineers (JSE) provided Mechanical, Electrical, Plumbing, and Fire Protection engineering services throughout the project. The design effort was uniquely complex due to the project’s phased approach, which included periods of pause and restart, as well as revisions to the floorplans to accommodate various configurations to maximize quantities of living units. These challenges required our designers to remain flexible and proactive, continually reassessing and modifying designs while ensuring ongoing state licensing requirements for the facility’s service programs.
Our mechanical team designed systems to support both residential and health services environments, incorporating energy recovery units, VTAC units, and traditional split systems. These systems were selected to meet the varying operational demands of the community while supporting long-term energy efficiency and ease of maintenance.
The campus electrical infrastructure was designed with multiple 208V services, carefully tailored to accommodate the distinct operational requirements of each building type, including the health services, independent living, commons, and lodge facilities. The design accounted for the wide range of systems and occupancy types, from life safety and critical systems in memory care, skilled nursing, and assisted living units to high-demand amenities such as kitchens, pools, and multipurpose spaces. A dedicated emergency generator system was incorporated within the health services building to support required life safety and critical loads, ensuring continuity of operations during utility interruptions. This coordinated approach provided reliable, resilient, and adaptable power distribution across a complex and diverse campus environment. Our plumbing designers included standard plumbing systems throughout the community, with central hot water systems serving the residential units. The systems were carefully coordinated to support the diverse occupancy types.
Our team is proud to have delivered an integrated engineering solution that supports a welcoming and modern retirement community. The Spires at Berry College stands as a modern infrastructure and an enjoyable environment for residents.
Copyright Photography by: Resolute Media