The new Serenity Hills and CARE facility for the Human Service Agency (HSA) in Watertown, SD provides modern facilities for HSA’s halfway house and detox center, along with dedicated support areas for the Comprehensive Assistance with Recovery and Empowerment (CARE) program. The CARE program offers services for individuals with severe and persistent mental illness, helping them successfully live and participate in their communities. Bringing both programs onto HSA’s main campus with a warm, welcoming, and comforting new building enhances the agency’s mission.

The Serenity Hills program offers 16 beds – 8 rooms with 2 beds each – centered around a large dining room and gathering space with high ceilings and clerestory windows that capture indirect natural daylight. The facility also features a kitchen for use by residents, a laundry facility for residents, a group meeting room, a flexible “solarium” space, two separate living rooms, and office support space. The separate east wing includes four behavioral health “safe” rooms and four detox rooms.

The CARE facility provides a series of staff offices near a large drop-in lounge, offering a supportive environment for those who use CARE’s services. It also has two group meeting rooms located near the drop-in lounge.

The design provides separate drop-off entries for each program, and the secluded location on the HSA campus promotes added privacy for all individuals using the services.

The exterior design uses residential vernacular of forms and materials to blend with the surrounding neighborhood. Brick complements the existing HSA facility, and fiber cement siding provides a durable yet residential touch to other portions of the facility. Ample natural light fills the interiors through operable fiberglass windows and larger areas of glass in aluminum storefront systems. Large heavy timber framing anchors canopies to designate entries to each portion of the facility.