The importance of older Australians maintaining their health, wellbeing and sense of identity through aged care accommodation design has been recognised by the Albanese Government.
The Reimagining Where We Live design ideas competition invited architects and designers to use the draft National Aged Care Design Principles and Guidelines to design innovative aged care homes that are welcoming, safe, accessible and dementia friendly.
Congratulations to the winning and commended entrants across both the Urban Metro and Regional Town categories:
Urban Metro Site
- First prize – $50,000 – ‘Scales of care’ by LM2A with Super Natural, a design that explored the relationship between care and the environment in which it takes place.
- Second prize – $20,000 – ‘Connection, community and movement’ by Walter&Walter, which flipped the inward looking institutional model to an outward focused community model.
- Highly commended – ‘Reflection Home’ by CultivAR + Wild Studio, which adopted the increasingly popular small household model.
- Highly commended – ‘Canopy’ by Jacqueline Bartholomeusz, David Sutherland, Lorraine Calder and Oculus, which clustered living spaces to create a neighbourhood model with ‘get together’ spaces.
- Commended – ‘An ordinary life’ by T&Z Architects + Aspect Studios, which explored the concept of aged care as a continuum that binds generations together.
Regional Town Site
- First prize – $50,000 – ‘Manu Place’ by Monash Urban Lab with NMBW Architecture Studio, BoardGrove Architects, BLOXAS and Glas Landscape Architects, which featured central cloistered courtyards between private living spaces that featured natural light, air and greenery.
- Second prize – $20,000 – ‘All together now’ by Other Architects, Openwork, Andy Fergus and Alicia Pozniak, which created a miniature town with an intergenerational focus, featuring a community childcare cooperative.
- Highly commended – ‘The connected garden’ by Mark Boffa, Guruge Ruwani Dharmasiri, Pulasthi Wijekoon, Jana Osvald and Julie Ockerby, which recreated a classic Australian country town.
The Principles and Guidelines have been developed in response to recommendation 45 of the Royal Commission into Aged Care Quality and Safety Final Report and will be introduced from 1 July 2024.
Entries were judged by an eminent Jury with diverse and extensive experience in architecture, design and aged care. The Jury received valuable feedback on the shortlisted designs from six advisers who are living with dementia.
For more information on the competition and to see the winning entries, visit Reimagining where we live | Reimagining where we live | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
For more information about what we’re doing to improve aged care accommodation, visit Improving accommodation in residential aged care | Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care
Quotes attributable to Minister Wells
“Good design can vastly improve the quality of life for older people living in aged care, and the working environments of the people who care for them.
“Through this design challenge, we've seen innovative ideas and accommodation solutions that will shape the future of aged care accommodation and support older people to live meaningful lives in safe, high quality residential care when it is needed.
"The design entries show what is possible when we think about aged care from a new perspective. I encourage providers to engage with and adopt the National Aged Care Design Principles and Guidelines, as recommended by the Aged Care Taskforce.
“Thank you to the entrants, jury members and advisers for supporting this important initiative.”