SEP/OCT 2016
33
I N FO L I N K - B P N
HEALTH & AGED CARE
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The architect’s treatment to the building’s façade and roof for example is as much an artistic collage of colour, textures and shapes as it is a front for a very sincere institution. There are bricks, but they’re glazed and multi-coloured. There is also prefab concrete, corrugated steel and hardwood cladding, but they too are used in unusual ways. But that’s not to say the building is impractical. The material palette, says Group GSA, along with the building’s floorplan and orientation, was chosen to help deliver a building that is connected to nature, easy to navigate, and comfortable for recovering patients. Group GSA says they worked from three clear objectives: 1. Ensure a connectedness between all departments, make wayfinding intuitive and clear and connections simple and direct 2. Create a facility which is open and inviting, pleasant for patients, visitors and residents of the aged care facility, and a wonderful place for staff to work everyday
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3. Embed wellness, wellbeing and recovery as a key consideration in design with an emphasis on patient direct exposure or views of interesting landscape. Promote movement through use of natural and local materials and link design together The intent to link spaces and facilitate wayfinding is again most obvious in Group GSA’s choice of materials. For example, the aforementioned glazed bricks feature inside and out, and are arranged in a mixed colour pattern that transitions from white (interiors) to light green to deep green (exterior). Ironbark eaves lining boards and internal feature panelling also accentuates internal to external connections, as do the hexagonal motifs and splashes of colour that appear both internally and outside. Useability was also an important part of the brief and to promote a sense of connectedness between various building departments the architects chose to locate both the reception and a shared courtyard at the core of the building. This encourages serendipitous encounters between patients, the public and staff, say the architects, as the building’s various departments and facilities are accessed through the same focal point and flow patterns.
4 The reception and a shared courtyard are located at the core of the building to encourage serendipitous encounters between patients. Fineline XT louvres from AGP Fineline Louvres provide operable cross ventilation through the reception area 5 Bright yellows feature throughout the building, including the vinyl flooring from Gerflor. The architects used a variety of ceiling materials throughout including Knauf Stratopanel and USG Boral Powerscape Plasterboard
Additionally, each bedroom or waiting area has views and access to landscape areas which was a key wellbeing and recovery consideration for Group GSA.
PRODUCTS: ROOF FIELDERS KLIPLOK 700 EXTERIOR WALLS EUROA GLAZED BRICKS, ECO TIMBER RECYCLED IRONBARK, FIELDERS FINESSE SHADOWLINE 305 WINDOWS & GLAZING CAPRAL ALUMINIUM ST LUCIA 406 FRONTGLAZE VIRIDIAN NEW WORLD GLASS EVANTAGE AND DECORCOLOUR, AGP LOUVRES FINELINE XT INTERIOR CEILINGS KNAUF STRATOPANEL, USG BORAL POWERSCAPE PLASTERBOARD FLOORING GERFLOR VINYL FLOORING, ONTERA CARPET TILES, JOHNSON TILES CERAMIC TILES, MISC WOVEN IMAGE ECHOPANEL PINBOARD PANEL, LAMINEX LAMINATE