Aged care
Community centre refurbishments in retirement villages
How we refurbish community centres in retirement villages and aged care sites with residents at home, from Manors of Mosman to Bayview Gardens.
In a retirement village, the community centre is where residents eat together, run their activities and catch up with visiting family. Refurbishing it means taking away the one space everyone shares, so the whole job is planned around keeping village life going. Most of our community centre work is for aged care and retirement living operators, and this is how we go about it.
Start with what can't stop
Before anything's priced we sit down with the village manager and work out what has to keep running: meals, regular activities and visits. Then we stage the work around them, or help find a temporary home for them while a space is closed.
Getting there matters as much as the room
A new dining room doesn't help if residents can't get to it. At Aveo Bayview Gardens on the Northern Beaches we refurbished the ground floor and dining area, added an outdoor dining area and put in a hearing loop. We also built an accessible path from the carpark and installed an external bush lift. Read the case study.
Build for the people who use it
Hearing loops, even floors with no trip edges, good light and clear paths for walking frames and wheelchairs all make a centre easier to use. We keep those paths clear during the works too, because residents still need to get around the village.
Keep the noise in its place
Residents are home all day. At Minkara the village asked for no noisy work before 10am and none on weekends, so that's how we run it. At Whiddon in Narrabri we booked every fire isolation with the Village Managers. Small arrangements like these are what keep residents on side.
Where we've done it
- Aveo Manors of Mosman. The community centre, including the cafe, lounge, library, function room, salon and billiards room.
- Aveo Bayview Gardens. The ground floor and dining, outdoor dining, a hearing loop, an accessible path and an external lift.
- Uniting Mayflower, Westmead. The community hall refurbishment, plus a re-roof and new villa fences and paths.
- Aveo Fernbank. A community centre upgrade.
- On site now. The dining room and patio at Aveo Lindfield Gardens, and the lobby, corridors and library at Aveo Minkara.
Often part of a bigger plan
A community centre usually comes with other capital works: a re-roof, paths, fences or a lift. Planning them together means one set of disruptions instead of several. For units, bathrooms and flooring, read staging aged care refurbishments.
If your village's community centre is due for work, talk to Dylan, Matt or Neil. There's more on our aged care and retirement living work.
Questions people ask
Can the community centre stay partly open during the works?
Often, yes. We work out with the village manager which spaces have to keep running and stage the job around them, or help find a temporary home for meals and activities.
Do you work with our architect?
Yes. At Bayview Gardens we built Bokor Architects' design. If you don't have a designer, we can take on the design as well under D&C.
Can you combine the community centre with other capital works?
Yes. At Uniting Mayflower in Westmead the hall refurbishment ran alongside a re-roof and new villa fences and paths.
How do you keep residents informed?
Through the village manager. Residents get notice of what's changing, when, and who to ask, before the work starts and as it moves through each stage.
Aged care
Dylan, Matt or Neil can walk the site and talk it through with you.
Related projects
Whiddon, Robert Young home, Narrabri
Whiddon
52 Gibbons Street, Narrabri NSWAged care & retirement living