Havilah on Palmerston is a residential aged care facility and
retirement village development in the heart of regional
Victoria.
The project revitalises a currently unused site (previously
Maryborough High School) into a sustainable development of a
central town block.
Maryborough’s ageing population and dry climate has created a
need for low-cost, ecologically sensitive developments.
This project answers these criteria with the inclusion of
48-independent retirement villas surrounding the central core
of a 30-bed residential aged care facility and community
centre. The reuse and transformation of the original, and now
heritage-listed, schoolhouse into a community centre requires
careful planning and consultation with Heritage Victoria.
Catchment and reuse of surface water run-off, rainwater
harvesting from roof areas, grey water recycling, natural
ventilation, solar hot water systems, orientation and insulation
levels provide the sustainable outcomes now expected by
consumers and developers.
The design intention seeks to create a language between the old
and the new incorporating the connection of the rural lifestyle and
architecture. Materials and construction methods allow a
modern rural vernacular to demonstrate a compatible building type
within the diverse built-form common in these early gold-rush
settlements.
Local council is completely supportive of the development with
planning well underway. Construction is proposed to commence
in late 2009.