Designing For Health – ForestOne Announces Round 10 A&D Trade Competition Winners

Foregrounding sustainability in their design and material specification, aged care facilities Cheltenham House by TSD Studio and Blacktown Aged Care Home by Gilmore Interior Design have won ForestOne’s Specified Responsibly A&D Trade Competition for January. For their exemplary use of EGGER’s wood-based décor products, the designers have been entered into the draw for the 2023 Grand Prize to win a trip to Interzum in Cologne.

The winning designers – Chenelle King, Director at TSD Studio, and Gilmore Interior Design’s Marie Barlow, Trina Kazi and Jenny Gilmore – worked closely with ForestOne representatives to confidently choose the most suitable EGGER wood-based décor products for their projects. Aged care facilities have a very specific set of design requirements to ensure the safety and wellbeing of their occupants. By delivering thoughtful and enduring care facilities, Gilmore Interior Design and TSD Studio have showcased how these requirements may be complemented by sustainable materials to produce a project that is beneficial to current and future residents.

Negotiating the property’s existing heritage features with modern health additions was a key consideration of the design.

The new Cheltenham House from Thompson Health Care is located in the leafy suburbs of Beecroft in Sydney’s north-west. Previously Anglicare’s Judy Cameron House, the site also houses the residential heritage property Bruony, owned by the Arnott family. Negotiating the property’s existing heritage features with modern health additions was a key consideration of the design. Speaking to both past and present of the site, TSD created a careful juxtaposition between the main facility and heritage house.

Chenelle King at TSD Studio was tasked with creating a sophisticated and functional atmosphere for residents and visitors while avoiding overt visual medical references in the finishes. Using colour as a wayfinding technique, Chenelle explains that she purposefully designed each floor “in a different tone, to ensure residents and staff can easily recognise where they are.” EGGER laminates were used for these colourways, due to the wide range of shades available and the sustainable credentials of the materials.

“Our focus with interior sustainability is to ensure that the current client needs are met while also ensuring the materials and finishes we use are environmentally responsible,” Chanelle says. “We want to ensure the future of the earth and its ecosystem remain intact for many generations.” Approaching a project in this way has many benefits for the client as well as the end users, she explains. “Designing in an ecofriendly manner can be more costly in the initial outset but can ultimately result in more energy-efficient outcomes overall.”

Environmental sustainability was top-of- mind from the project’s outset, as Gilmore Interior Design and the client, Hardi Aged Care, recognised the value of retaining the existing building and rejuvenating the interior spaces.

At Blacktown Aged Care Home, Trina Kazi, Practice Manager and Interior Designer, Jenny Gilmore, Director, and Maria Barlow, Lead Designer at Gilmore Interior Design, have modernised the existing home and expanded the facilities to provide new accommodation for the changing demographic of Western Sydney. Environmental sustainability was top-of- mind from the project’s outset, as Gilmore Interior Design and the client, Hardi Aged Care, recognised the value of retaining the existing building and rejuvenating the interior spaces.

“The re-use of the building is in line with the client’s personal interest in environmental sustainability,” Trina says. “Increasingly, aged care architects and designers are employing environmentally sustainable design principles in recognition of the benefits to the residents and staff in creating healthy buildings.”

While traditional aged care facilities tend to be stark and clinical in nature, the ethos of Gilmore Interior Design is to create enriching environments. An initial assessment of the site found the circa 1980s – 90s brick building had a number of compliance issues, together with clinical interiors that were tired and uninviting. The designers responded to the needs of the client by providing space planning and colour palettes, concealing exposed services and distracting elements and improving the lighting. There were also the practical considerations at play in designing for individuals in aged care facilities, including sourcing materials that create a healthy environment with low VOC emissivity and antimicrobial properties while also being durable and easy to clean.

To address this diverse set of needs, Gilmore Interior Design worked with ForestOne to employ EGGER wood-based décor products in Polar Blue for all laminate surfaces. “This product is specified for joinery in the residents’ bedrooms,” Trina explains. “The EGGER laminate was the specific colour required, and it had the appropriate LRV (light reflectance value) levels required.” The product also allows for wayfinding in the rooms, with colour providing an important cue for residents and enabling them to navigate independently.

Due to the large range of EGGER laminates available, Gilmore Interior Design felt confident using products that would meet the client’s criteria of being environmentally responsible. “We know that as a company, they have undertaken the research to make important technical and product information readily available,” says Trina.

With efficient and well-considered designs, TSD Studio and Gilmore Interior Design have confidently specified sustainable materials that benefit the end users. Collaborating with ForestOne representatives, both January winners have exemplified the use of EGGER materials to promote eco-friendly and cost-effective design.