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Aged Care Architecture
Aged Care Architecture in Australia is an important reference to the world scene in the industry. For a long time it has been at the leading end of experimentation with creating more “homelike” community living environments that proved it was possible to care for the frail aged without having to put them into an institution. However with the aged care industry dogged by restricted government funding streams, it has been forced to go into a holding pattern in order to hang onto its resident focused values that are readily embraced by aged care providers who now focus on lobbying the Government for appropriate funding support.
Meanwhile, as the aging population continues to grow, the demand for appropriate “homelike” aged care architectural responses that meet today’s social and economic driven market expectations, continues to be a challenge. The move to Aging-in place continues to be redefined to suit market expectations, and as a result new care models and architectural environments are explored and emerge.
Merrin and Cranston Architects have moved with the times and continues to deliver quality aged care architecture that tick all the boxes for current aged care and retirement living needs and future trends. In the past delivering care in an aged care facility on one level was the ideal. Today, the requirement for aged care providers to operate with a larger base number of residents to achieve viability, requires a shift to delivering care over multiple levels. In response to this, building design solutions become more compact, dense and consolidated. The architectural challenge is to incorporate the intent of the planning and interior design principles that achieve “homelike” environments for single storey buildings within the rationalisation and standardisation rigors required for complex multi-storey building solutions. Other challenges include:
- connecting residents on upper levels with the outside environment and spaces outside of the building
- views that don’t involve looking another part of the building
- visually breaking down long corridor views
- concealing “back-of-house” staff functions
- minimising day to day staff & resident travel distances
- increase in resident populations with Dementia
- addressing Workplace Health & Safety requirements
- diversity in the delivery care models to accommodate emerging trends towards sub-acute, transitional and palliative care
- efficient cluster sizes and layouts
- detailing for people with dementia
- traffic flow
- minimise staff functions per resident eg serveries per Dining Room
- Food, linen and cleaning routes
- Method of food production: Cook - chill, Cook - fresh, 5 day kitchens, Regeneration kitchens
- Laundry: flats & personals
- Extent of Resident Services
- Integration of Allied Health services
- Bedroom sizes & fitout with ensuite/ shared bath room
Of course all this occurs within the overarching realm of residents having the choice to age-in-place within a community living environment.
Merrin & Cranston have undertaken hundreds of projects over our 40 years of operation that have continually addressed such aged care initiatives. Some 7500 aged persons currently enjoy residence in facilities designed by Merrin and Cranston including independent living units, frail aged hostels, high and low care accommodation, extra services facilities, special needs units and aging in place facilities at 85 separate retirement village sites.
Residential Aged Care has become a clear specialty for us, covering all areas from Independent Living to Sub Acute Care. We have the capability of providing services from refurbishments and renovations to multi-storey green field developments. Whilst aged care continues to be a major strength of Merrin & Cranston, our expertise and experience is by no means limited.
Merrin & Cranston have facilitated a number of projects including:
- fully integrated retirement villages;
- new mulit-storey residential aged care buildings;
- independent living units;
- education & child care facilities;
- health projects;
- community centres and church developments;
- interior fitouts including commercial kitchen and laundry facilities;
- complex staged developments within operating facilities;
- renovations and refurbishments of existing buildings; and
- statutory fire compliance upgrades within operating facilities.