The Parkview, Wheller Gardens project in Queensland designed by Fulton Trotter Architects has received a 2011 Aged Care Association Australia Building Award for a New Extra Services Facility.
The Award was announced last week at the 2011 Aged Care Congress at the Gold Coast Convention & Exhibition Centre.
Images courtesy Fulton Trotter Architects. Photography: John Mills
"This award now recognises Parkview from an industry level within aged care - Parkview is really becoming a new benchmark of aged care architecture" said Mark Trotter, lead architect for the project.
The firm congratulated their client Wesley Mission Brisbane for the achievement.
Parkview is the central facility within a high density seniors residential precinct developed by Wesley Mission Brisbane on the site of Wheller Gardens, Chermside, Brisbane.
This building includes residential accommodation for 144 high care residents, a new community therapy centre, and supporting facilities. The accommodation is in predominantly single bed apartment format with a small number of 2 bed rooms.
The building is broken into five sections, two residential complexes, a central community building, a kitchen and café/ restaurant. Each residential section has two floors of 36 apartments arranged to maximize access to natural light, breezes, and views.
A central community space, chapel, café, hairdresser, and admin facilities are all accessible to the public, the architects’ aim to defuse the barrier between this residential group and the surrounding community.
The architects explain that high site value in this growing part of Brisbane necessitated a multi level and intensive approach. However, the buildings’ mass has been broken down into firstly the five buildings and then further into pods of 4 units to reduce the developments’ potential for an intimidating character.
The residential components use finely detailed concrete blockwork blades, panelised coloured spandrels, and individual stepped roofs to result in an aesthetic equating to apartment / resort living. A vertical empahasis has been applied to a largely horizontal building plate to reduce its impact. The central building is more dominant with outdoor entertaining verandahs detailed in timber screening projecting from a coloured blockwork core.
The café, when built, will be an entirely different aesthetic of Spanish tiles, timber louvres and pavilion forms to clearly identify this destination facet of the development.
Interiors use a largely white simplicity, combined with varying colour timber ceilings, and trims.
