Nazareth Wynnum RACF

Nazareth Wynnum RACF

As the new home for existing and new residents to Nazareth Wynnum, the RACF has been designed to be just that, a home. Working with such an iconic site and in an industry undergoing high levels of scrutiny and review, we understood that the aged care design needed to sit proudly, yet cohesively within its heritage context and provide innovative and flexible solutions for our clients to address the future of aged care.

Tucked away at the back of the site, the new 150-bed aged care facility sits humbly next to the Heritage Chapel. Built across two stages, the RACF steps across three stories as the land falls away at the northwestern corner of the site.

Clad in warm brick tones, the building has been designed to complement, but not compete, with the magnificent heritage buildings on site. The design draws on the regular grid nature of the Chapel’s window placement, and horizontal language of the balconies. Breaking up this horizontality are feature external stairs, reminiscent of the vertical parapets of the heritage building. As you arrive to the building’s porte cochere, the building emerges from the landscaping, with dramatic arches highlighting the main entrance. Internally, a dramatic arrival experience of the lobby makes way to a humbler home-like environment.

Designed to reject the institutional nature of aged care, Nazareth Wynnum uses warm timbers and botanical wallpapers to provide a dynamic but welcoming environment. Items required to support aged care, such as wall protection, nurse call systems, and
non-permeable surfaces, are subtly and seamlessly integrated
into the design.

A connection to nature is intrinsic to the design of both the interior and exterior of the building. Internal courtyards and corridors opening to balconies or windows, allowing light to fill the entire floor plate and provides constant connection to views and landscaping.

On the basement floor, staff services such as the kitchen and laundry have efficient access to the residential floors above through centralised lifts with BOH corridor access directly to sculleries or through linen chutes within pan rooms above. This leaves the spaces feeling residential and provides more space for communal areas such as activity rooms, salon, physio and multi-purpose room, private dining, and a chapel. Performance Solutions for handrails, accessible resident rooms, balustrade designs, unisex toilets, and weatherproofing ensure that the design of the building met the specific care requirements of the client.

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