ELDERLY AUSTRALIAN CHINESE HOMES

2005 - 2009

Stage 1: 2005-2009.   Stage 2: 2020 - Present

Elderly Australian Chinese Homes project was a steep learning curve for us: it was our first aged care project and, due to enormous opposition from neighbours and The Hills Shire Council, our first project to be approved in the Land and Environment Court.  

The 48-room aged care facility, designed to meet the Commonwealth Government’s accreditation criteria for aging in place accommodation, provides for low care, high care and dementia care residents, as well as respite care accommodation. The development was one of the first aged care facilities to provide all single rooms with en-suite bathrooms.

A significant fall across the site dictated a built form stepping down the site, with the residential wings radiating off a linear circulation spine that accommodated administration and ancillary functions.

The site provided the opportunity of siting the building in a sylvan landscape setting, where residential wings define landscape courtyards and serve to separate the dementia and low care gardens which are directly accessible from the respective indoor activity rooms.  

Lead consultant services provided for the project were brief development, design, LEC documentation, tender documentation, contract administration during construction, post contract administration.

Stage 2: 2020 - Current

Stage 2 is a 30-room separate building connected to the Stage 1 development by an enclosed bridge over the driveway.

The curved form of the building radiates from the linking bridge toward the street boundary, providing a compact and efficient floor plan, whilst minimising visual impact of the facility on the residential streetscape.