Warrigal Shell Cove wins 2018 National Retirement Living Award for Innovation
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- Created on Wednesday, 05 December 2018 09:02
This Australian Property Council Award for Excellence in Retirement Living has recognised Warrigal’s innovation, not only in the built environment of the Shell Cove property but in the way services are delivered to residents.
This Award is given to village operators and/or service providers who have demonstrated how they have implemented innovative practices across any area of their business for the benefit of retirement village customers.
In terms of the buildings at Warrigal Shell Cove, ADM Architects (Residential Villas) and Jason Teece (Residential Care Home) engaged to undertake the site master planning and detailed design of the village to meet the following design outcomes set by Warrigal:
- Buildings and grounds are fit for purpose to support older people to create inspiring communities
- Design promotes choice, independence, dignity, happiness and connectedness
- Design allows Warrigal services to reach a high level of quality and compliance standards
- Development provides flexibility and ease for future building adjustments and improvements to respond to the changing needs of older people and community expectations, so residents can “Age in Place”
Warrigal has worked in partnership with Shellharbour City Council in making Shell Cove an age-friendly precinct using the World Health Organisation’s criteria. This puts forward a template and benchmarks for how to create communities that cater for all ages into the future. This includes footpath and transport linkages to Warrigal Shell Cove and collaboration on making community spaces called “The Quay” the destination for helping older people live their best lives, whether it be Probus meetings, Multicultural Community meetings, friendship groups or art classes.
Social connection also underpins the design of the building where there are no barriers between the Residential Care Home, retirement village, the groups who come to use the community spaces and the broader community. This model was developed after extensive research which looked at international best practice, other sectors focussing on high end customer service such as five star hotel experiences, as well as feedback from our customers and those on our waiting lists about what is important to them.
To help support social connection even further, an onsite Community Facilitator (CF) role has also been created to create opportunities for people to connect and form friendships. This role is new to aged care and focuses on building the social capital of the Warrigal Shell Cove community. The CF coordinates activities and events for the whole community including those that live within the residential care home and village while also leading the welcoming process discovering the interests of our customers and using that knowledge to help connect like-minded people.
Another innovative design feature is the online customer portal, created as an online community which mirrors the built form on-site which enables our customers to stay connected with their family and community.The portal was co-designed with the village residents themselves the end-users and provides: Customers can book an activity, order a meal, post stories so friends and families can keep up with their loved ones and community notices.
According to Leanne Taylor, Executive Leader Strategic Innovation and Development, customers have voted with their feet “When taken to market, all 33 villas in the village were snapped up in the first few days of release. There are currently over 400 people on the wait list for the villas. We believe this is the kind of residential living our customers are now looking for and will increasingly be the model they want to see,” she said.