Riverlea

Riverlea is a senior living complex that integrates with the surrounding suburb. It is treated as a village, or cluster of different building types, rather than ‘one large institution’.

The residential buildings centre around a township consisting of shops, activity areas, a town hall, and other common areas to create a town centre. Building elements are varied in use of built forms, materials, colours and furnishings for each part of the community.

The existing street patterns within the neighbouring suburb has been extended into the site. External spaces are divided into ‘front yards’, providing street addresses, and ‘back yards’, which provide secure, safe garden areas for neighbourhoods of 14 residents, facing the indoor street (passage).

The design enhances the feeling of individuality, while promoting an opportunity for a variety of experiences and the choice of the level of interaction with the wider community through a sequence of sitting spaces – private (room), semi-private (hall, sitting nooks) and public (dining/ lounge) activity areas.