Noarlunga Hospital Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit | Wiltshire Swain Architects + GHD Design

The Noarlunga Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit (MHRU), south of Adelaide, delivers a progressive, recovery-focused model of care for people with chronic mental health needs who are unable to live independently. Integrating a 28-bed Acute Medical Unit above and a long-stay rehabilitation unit below, the development supports continuity of care while maintaining dignity, autonomy, and therapeutic benefit.

Designed to enable stays of up to 18 months, the MHRU provides graduated transitions from private to communal and community-facing spaces, empowering residents to rebuild life skills and social confidence at their own pace. Shared facilities allow continued access to therapy, counselling, and wellbeing services following discharge, supporting long-term recovery.

Co-designed with lived-experience consumers and First Nations representatives, the project embeds cultural identity and connection to place. A domestic architectural character, strong landscape integration, and flexible planning create a calm, non-institutional environment that fosters healing, inclusion, and meaningful community reintegration.