Lend Lease’s Isabella Gardens in Canberra is the first retirement living village in Australia to achieve the Gold Livable Housing Design Quality Mark from Livable Housing Australia (LHA).
Aimed at making homes easier to access, navigate and live in, as well as more cost-effective to adapt when life’s circumstances change, LHA has worked with industry, government and community groups to produce a practical set of guidelines that deliver enhanced liveability in Australian home designs.
General Manager of Lend Lease’s Retirement Living Development business, Simon Pagett, explained the benefits to residents of liveable designs when it comes to maintaining lifestyle.
“Achieving the first Gold certification from Livable Housing Australia demonstrates our vision to create the best places. Lend Lease Retirement Living has embraced the Livable Housing Design Guidelines as an important methodology for measuring the design features included in a home.
“We understand that traditional home designs will no longer address the lifestyle needs of older Australians. In order to remain relevant and meet market expectations we must respond to these needs with innovation and flexibility – being the first to meet this new national standard is one of the ways we can achieve that,” Mr Pagett said.
In order to achieve the LHA Gold Quality Mark, Lend Lease has designed independent living villas at Isabella Gardens to include design features that pay attention to dwelling access with a continuous, step free pathway from the front boundary to the front door.
“Isabella Gardens features single storey homes, with wide internal doorways, corridors and spacious kitchens, laundries, bedrooms and living spaces that enable easy access for our residents. The homes are designed to allow our residents to age in place and maintain the level of lifestyle they are accustomed to,” Mr Pagett said.
Peter Verwer, Chair of LHA, explained that the LHA Quality Mark represented a trusted quality seal of approval that attests to enhanced liveability.
“We are delighted that Lend Lease has achieved the first certification for a retirement living development. Isabella Gardens sets a new benchmark for the industry and will give the residents confidence that their homes meet their needs both now and in the future,” Mr Verwer said.
The Livable Housing Design Guidelines have been developed through extensive consultation with members of the National Dialogue on Universal Housing Design.
