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Architects in service of people Stanton Dahl Architects’ hybrid care offering can help aged care and retirement living providers meet client needs and remain competitive even in these challenging times.
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tanton Dahl Architects has designed hundreds of buildings that benefit the community over the last 36 years. The architectural firm specialises in aged care, social and affordable housing, education, community and churches. The company and its team of architects Mahi Lau are also driven by a strong social conscience and drawn to projects that make a difference to the lives of people using the spaces they design. Shayne Evans, Stanton Dahl Architects’ CEO, says the company believes architecture has something valuable to contribute to society, local communities and individual users. “However, we also believe that this is accompanied by significant responsibilities,” Evans tells Australian Ageing Agenda. “In simple terms we rail against the idea that buildings are monuments to their architects and instead we approach architecture with a desire to make a difference, because our experience is that the most effective architecture really can make a difference.” In fact, he says, Stanton Dahl’s core purpose is to make a difference in people’s lives. “We have crafted language around this, calling it ethical architecture, or ‘design for good’, but it all boils down to our desire to improve lives.” Evans says the aged care and retirement living sector is one of a handful where significant impact can be had on people’s lives, making it the ideal place for them to serve. “We recognise the specialist and complex needs of the varied client base as well as the commercial realities of aged care and retirement living developments, and we do not shy away from seeking solutions that balance these constraints,” he says.
A hybrid approach Mahi Lau, Stanton Dahl Architects’ Aged Care Sector Leader, says The Royal Commission, ongoing pandemic and bushfires are among the sector’s massive design disruptors leading to an unprecedented impact on retirement and Shayne Evans aged care occupancy. However, she says some providers are bucking the trend of declining occupancy with huge demand for a contemporary offering to suit the needs of today’s seniors, which Stanton Dahl calls hybrid care. “Hybrid care offers the independence and freedom of a retirement living setting combined with the care of an aged care facility when required,” Lau tells AAA. “It is essentially a care product that allows higher levels of care to be delivered in a retirement living environment, such as a unit or apartment. It is not to be confused with co-located care, which generally requires the resident to move to an aged care facility from their retirement living setting, sometimes within the same campus.” Lau, who has been leading the aged care team at Stanton Dahl for three years, says they started using the term hybrid care in the office while discussing new care solutions to resolve concerns their clients are facing with current residents. “For example, if a couple moved into a retirement unit and with time the needs of one partner changed to high care, having to separate the couple simply for providing care seemed to cause a lot of heartbreak not only to the couple but to the staff and carers too,” she says. When care needs increase, residents want to be close to
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Hybrid care – the best of retirement living with aged care if needed
their partner, loved ones, support staff and local amenities, says Lau. “So it seemed a bit contradictory that changing care needs required residents to be separated from their comfort zone. And hence this typology came about.” Lau says hybrid care can make a difference to the lives of residents because: • residents maintain their social setting • residents can continue to stay within the same built space, which especially with degenerative illness, is important for familiarity of space including furniture layout • the possibility of delivering care in a normal household setting could eventually open up avenues allowing for the ageing population to be more central to city centres. Lau believes a hybrid care model is the future of the sector because it meets the needs of Baby Boomers and the new direction proposed by the aged care royal commission. She points to research from the Australian Housing and Urban Research Institute from as far back as 2005 that found independence is one of the main factors why older people want the choice of ageing in place. More recently, Stanton Dahl Architects hosted an aged care industry breakfast event in December to share and compare the latest industry and consumer insights of several CEOs, heads of property and general managers of a variety of aged care providers in NSW. “The consensus of the meeting confirmed our views that more and more people are shying away from entering into a nursing home arrangement and instead would prefer a continuum of care in a retirement village setting,” Lau says. Research into the very same topic by NSW provider RSL LifeCare also confirmed the incoming generation of seniors are not keen on the status quo, she says. Around three-quarters of Baby Boomers would choose to stay in their own home with home care visits while just 1 per cent want to enter communal residential aged care in its current format, according to the nationally representative survey of more than 1,000 Australians aged care 56-74. “Our research has found that Baby Boomers’ priorities for aged care are quite different from previous generations with a greater emphasis on high quality food, exercise opportunities,
wellness support and travel excursions,” RSL LifeCare CEO Laurie Leigh said when launching the research in November. “That may explain why only 1 per cent of Baby Boomers want to enter communal residential aged care in its current format, as they have perceptions that these services are not currently provided.” For examples already in play, Lau suggests looking at the models offered by Ryman, Summerset and Arvida in New Zealand, and LDK in Canberra, which all allow residents to move once and then continue to stay in the same space regardless of their health care needs. From an operational viewpoint, Lau says a hybrid-care setup would need staff who can adapt to the more active senior while also understanding the intricacies of providing care to the ageing partner and integration within the provider’s operational model. “Managing safety will involve finding the balance between providing a secure environment, which can contain someone requiring dementia care, for instance, while also allowing the freedom so valued by retirees.” Multiple modern technologies have the ability to provide a solution to these and other issues, and technology overall will play a huge role in a hybrid setup, she says. The hybrid model can also help to promote a multigenerational approach in cities, which is essential to improve the social fabric with benefits for both younger and older generations – something European countries with active implementation already in many cities seem to have well understood, Lau says. Besides the benefits, this model also fits in well with The Royal Commission’s proposals to support new models of care, says Lau. “With support from the government it can poise the industry for accelerated growth especially after the tumultuous times we have had recently as reflected in the occupancy figures posted in the 2019-20 Report on the Operation of the Aged Care act 1997”.
A passion for aged care Lau’s career spans two decades, multiple sectors and several cities including Sydney, Mumbai and New Delhi. She has worked on projects up to $2 billion in value and mastered the skills needed to manage medium-to-large scale projects. After working for multiple firms in Sydney and India gaining experience in sectors including residential, airport design, shopping centres, private luxury residences and schools, Lau says she discovered a passion for the aged care and retirement living sector a decade ago. “While working for one renowned firm in Sydney I was introduced to seniors living and aged care projects. Most of my work was for not-for-profit providers, which increases your sense of responsibility to ensure the organisations are getting the best bang for their buck.
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Technology will play a huge role in a hybrid setup, says Mahi Lau
“I realised the potential to give back to my profession in the true sense. That’s when it was easy to realise, I had found my niche.” One of the things Lau loves about working in the aged care and retirement living sector is the huge responsibility of delivering a comfortable environment where care can be optimised in a homelike setting. “Of course, the other projects too – like most built environments – are user centric, but this age group is one where very rarely the residents decide what they want or have the ability to choose. So, it is up to the designer to ensure the spaces provided are safe, comfortable and allow for the needs of the resident to be catered to. “With every new project, there is a sense of gratitude, especially when the newly designed spaces get occupied and you can see the resident enjoying the spaces created with their needs in mind. We see this as our purpose coming to life: making a difference to the building users’ lives.”
• t he majority of projects are for social or community good • 80 per cent of community-oriented clients are repeat clients • the participative ownership structure is a feature of the firm’s collectivism and ensures the entire team is aligned to the mission ‘to change lives for the better’ • Stanton Dahl Architects is committed to spending up to 1 per cent of their time on pro bono work, which equates to around three projects a year • the practice has built dedicated specialist teams in each of its fields including aged care.
“While designing, you ask yourself whether one of your own ageing family member would be comfortable and happy in that space. If you are not satisfied, then it won’t be satisfactory for anyone. This can then be stretched to the next level of providing staff comfort,” she says. Those questions include: • Would the space created allow the staff to administer care in an optimum environment? • Are staff looked after? • Does the building force staff into travelling long distances? • Will the response times be optimum considering travel distances?
Understanding the whys Variety of challenges in aged care projects A design scheme Lau worked on for 15 months involved an aged care facility design for Southern Cross Care, Campbelltown with the ability to section off areas if required, such as during an infectious outbreak. “Most of these separable portions still had access to the outdoors allowing residents to continue accessing amenities for their wellbeing while also being self-sufficient with the other space requirements, including dining and cooking.” She says one of the trickiest project designs and also one of the largest she has worked on is a design scheme in Lane Cove involving an integrated site of 100 independent living units and 80 aged care beds and a budget in excess of $80 million. “The building was set over seven storeys while presenting only a two-storey outlook to the street by utilising the natural gradient on site. This design maximised the green outlook over the golf course and the North Shore bushland. The co-location of the care spaces within the one built space has immense benefits with residents able to share some common facilities. “While it did not provide the luxuries of higher care being delivered within the low care environments, it allowed residents to continue occupying the same built environments albeit on different floors with the outlook and settings essentially maintained as a constant,” Lau says. On assessing whether her designs are achieving the desired outcome of comfort for users, Lau says it is simple.
Evans agrees on the need to achieve comfort and fit-for-purpose spaces. Stanton Dahl Architects can design spaces that make people feel more connected to their environment, facilitate connection with others, or enable contemplation and reflection, he says. However, it is more than just the experience of the space. “In our experience, the real way to make a difference in people’s lives is to identify the ‘why’ of the building or the development and repeatedly test any solution we identify against this why to determine its suitability and appropriateness,” Evans says. The questions include: • What is the why of the client we are designing for – their core purpose? • Why is this particular building needed? • Why in this location? “We often find our greatest success when the answers to these questions are clearly understood and used to test and assess any solutions we identify. Overlaid throughout this entire process is recognition that we are merely the facilitators of bringing this new building into existence,” he says. However, Evans stresses is it is not about the designers, adding their egos are never the end goal. “It is almost as if we are behind the scenes – seeking to serve our various clients be they the occupants, managers, owners or users. Each client brings with them different needs and requirements that we will weave into our design solutions. Ultimately, we are architects in the service of people.”
Contact Stanton Dahl Architects: T: 02 8876 5300 W: stantondahl.com.au E: mahi.lau@stantondahl.com.au
Design for ageing is about the future, not the past.
In our 36 years and more than 100 Aged Care design projects, we’ve consistently broken new ground, applying the considerable know-how of a specialist team to create facilities that enrich the lives of their residents and staff alike. Today we’re looking at the next generation, things like Vertical Villages, Integrated Developments and designs that support ageing in place - concepts that integrate communities even further. Call us to talk about a new vision in Aged Care and Retirement Living facility design.
Let’s talk on (02) 8876 5300 or email design@stantondahl.com.au
Stanton Dahl Nominated Architects D.P Stanton 3642, S.M Evans 7686 (02) 8876 5300 www.stantondahl.com.au