Image Credit : Scott Riley Photography
https://www.scottrileyphotography.com/
Project Overview
Huang Ying Jung Nursing Home is a state-of-the-art nursing home, which boasts 84 en-suites comprising 78 single rooms and 6 double rooms. Developed by Australian Nursing Home Foundation ( ANHF) and located in the leafy north shore Sydney suburb of Gordon, Meli Studio encapsulated the principles of aged care design with an emphasis on functionality & accessibility, sustainability, together with cultural and social factors that influence the needs and wants of residents and staff.
Completed in April 2023, this project has been the perfect example of an aged care home resulting from a human-centric approach to design with a strong emphasis on community engagement.
The interior design and this design model, including the approach to delivering a product that is based on human centric design, is already being considered for a new development for ANHF.
Project Commissioner
Project Creator
Team
Developer:
Australian Nursing Home Foundation (ANHF)
Project Managers:
Midson Group
Architects:
Mark Boffa of Boffa Robertson Group
Interior Architects:
Julie Ockerby of Meli Studio
Construction:
Grindley Constructions
Project Brief
This project has been 6 years in the making. Engaged early, the design brief included not just an expected ‘look & feel’ but needed to incorporate the cultural and social factors that meets the needs and wants of Chinese seniors.
Our inspiration point was Mandarin Oriental hotels. We wanted to fuse elements such as colours, textures and finished that reflected traditional Chinese design elements into a modern aged care home that had the sense of arrival of a luxury hotel, and residential areas that reflected aspirational living together with comfortable human-centric features for both residents, family and staff.
The client wanted us to focus on community, principles of Feng Shui and incorporating that into the design, feature lighting considerations, acoustic elements and a high detail on sustainability.
Our biggest achievement was being able to encapsulate the principles of aged care design with an emphasis on functionality & accessibility, sustainability, together with cultural and social factors that influence the needs and wants of residents and staff. The look & feel was also an important part of the clients brief.
Project Innovation/Need
It was crucial to prioritize functionality and accessibility in the overall home, but particularly in the care suites. Our design met the specific needs of elderly residents, such as easy-to-navigate layouts, ample lighting, and comfortable seating areas. This was designed together with the client’s team and members of ANHF’s community. We incorporated their needs & wants with traditional Chinese design elements with colours, textures, and materials, into a modern aged care setting. Our joinery design reflected the inspirational points that was presented to the client early in the concept design stage to emulate a high-end hotel design inspired by luxury hotels such as the Mandarin Oriental.
Designed to meet the specific needs of Chinese elderly residents, such as easy-to-navigate layouts, ample lighting, and comfortable seating areas so that family can spend time together. We acknowledged that multi-generational living is common, with adult children often living with their elderly parents.Communal kitchens and living rooms were designed to be able to gather as well as a bespoke designed Tea House to house the tradition of tea and Yum-Cha gathering.
Designing areas that catered to the interests of Chinese seniors to enable them to enjoy calligraphy classes, tai chi, and mahjong was of high importance. This also included a dining area and home-like kitchen area that enabled high quality Chinese cuisine options and ensured a dining experience that is reflected of the high importance that food plays in the Chinese culture.
Design Challenge
Having a project that starts and ends in 6 years will always carry its challenges. In fact, the list is endless. Finishes were discontinued in that timeline so we were effectively re-specifying quite a lot of the hard finishes. No one product is the same and we did not want to make any compromises on the design intent. If anything, the impetus was to create a better product each time there was an opportunity to re-specify.
Project costs had increased in the 6 year period together with the economic challenges of Covid. Hence, some design needed to be re-thought and re-documented.
The long timing to project completion brings a lot of emotions to the table. We were very excited to reach completion and to be recognised not so long after with the Best Interior Design of the Year trophy at the 11th Eldercare Innovations Awards ( held in conjunction with the Ageing Asia Innovation Forum) in Singapore, was very rewarding for the client and ourselves.
Sustainability
The project needed to meet stringent sustainability elements. All finishes had to meet Green star ratings to achieve development approval. Hence we worked closely with suppliers to be able to meet these standards without compromise to the design intent.
The end result is that the aged care home meets al the requirements for Green Star, and also all Aged Care Quality & Standards, plus Principles of Dementia Design.
Interior Design - Public or Institutional
This award celebrates innovative and creative building interiors with consideration given to space creation and planning, furnishings, finishes and aesthetic presentation. Consideration also given to space allocation, traffic flow, building services, lighting, fixtures, flooring, colours, furnishings and surface finishes.
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