A new 120 – 148 bed state of the art Aged Care and Community Hub located in Adelaide’s developing Western Suburbs.
A First Principles Environmental design approach is utilised for this large community building – North facing residential wings open onto expansive landscaped courtyards, shady protected verandahs and communal social areas. The design incorporates an extensive Allied Health consultancy and tenancies for commercial development for the facility.
The overwhelming landmark characteristic of the site is the Lemon Scented Gum located on the Tapleys Hill Road frontage. The delicacy of the tree inspires the design’s material selections, colours and ‘softening at the edges’ by layering materials, screens and rooves and placing an emphasis on breaking down the ‘hard edge’ between indoors and out by incorporating overhangs & verandahs. Commercial, communal and private residential areas have an outdoor outlook & enhanced experience with the outdoors. Internally a combination of diverse domestic and communal spaces have been purposely created to ensure the facility reflects the diversity of spaces found between the private residence and the wider urban community. This design also includes as much of the latest “Best Practice’ items that are on the Aged Care ‘horizon’, for example a building with a high level of visibility and transparency for resident orientation, and the development of a ‘Dementia Centre of Excellence’.
The building and site layout has been designed from the best practice, ‘first principles’ climactic approach to Sustainable Environmental Design including; addressing orientation, local site wind conditions, access to late afternoon western sun (in cooler months), natural ventilation, access to natural light, and passive heating and cooling. Long elevations & skillion rooves facing north, short elevations facing east and west which allows maximum sun & light penetration into the secure residential courtyards within the site. Other environmental technological elements have been integrated into the design from the start of the process, in lieu of being ‘optional add ons’ at the end of the process.