Djargurd Wurrung people of the Liwura Gundidj clan and Leehoorah Gundidj
Victoria
Leura Aged Care Camperdown is an Australian first: a unique typology designed for an individualised, non-institutional model-of-care. Co-designed with residents, it reimagines carehomes for older Australians post-Royal Commission.
An uplifting environment of small households, shared-spaces and public amenities allows each resident to create a homelife they love within an architectural program prioritising quality-of-life, choice, independence, dignity and safety.
The architectural response provides lofty light-filled households, with back-of-house services and pandemic-ready clinical functions concealed to maintain a warm residential environment. Prominent communal areas connect to varied landscape destinations, offering sensory stimulation and intuitive wayfinding. Views to surrounding streetscapes and iconic mountains further enhance wayfinding and community connection.
Co-design with residents, and collaboration with Dementia Australia, NARI and Papworth Landscape Design, created a dementia-enabling environment. Leura offers a vision for the future by deinstitutionalising the architecture of aged care. Through human-centred design, it achieves world’s-best-practice, transforming the experience of ageing regionally.
“This project has revolutionised our model-of-care and completely transformed the way people see aged care in Camperdown and Corangamite Shire. Residents can choose their own meals, do their own washing, garden, craft, grow vegetables – all those things they were doing at home. They’re proud and feel ownership. It’s very welcoming. Every room has a beautiful view. There’s a constant stream of visitors now. Before, people often stayed in their rooms. Now they meet up or go for walks together. There’s spaces to do your own thing, so people live communally more harmoniously. It’s a beautiful place to work and interact.”
James Kelly, Project Director
Vignesh Chandrasekaran, Project Associate
Jennifer Rodezno, Project Associate
Thanh Vu, Design Architect
Lauren Lee, Interior Designer
Lily Molendijk, Graduate of Architecture
Michael List, Design Architect
Vitto Andreas, Design Architect
Johnstaff, Project Manager
Steve Watson and Partners, Building Surveyor
Slattery, Cost Consultant
Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation, First Nations Consultant
Urbis, Heritage Consultant
Papworth Design, Landscape Consultant
Spiire, Town Planner
Meli Studio, Stylist
ID Lab, Wayfinding
One Mile Grid, Traffic Engineer
Architectural and Access, Access Consultant
Green Design Group, Kitchen Consultant
Unearthed Heritage, First Nations Consultant
Aecom, Acoustics, Logistic and ESD Consultant
FMG Engineering, Civil and Structural Consultant
Introba, Electrical, Hydraulic, Security, Fire and Mechanical Consultant