Conrad Gargett congratulates the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service – Jimbelunga Nursing Centre is Officially Opened

Conrad Gargett, who has delivered award-winning projects in architecture, urban design and planning, interior design and landscape architecture since 1890, congratulate the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service (ATSICHS) Brisbane for launching their extended and refurbished Jimbelunga Nursing Centre. Originally the centre was established to meet the cultural and spiritual needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, however the facility currently caters for a wide range of people from other cultures and the wider community as well.

Lawrence Toaldo, a Director of Conrad Gargett stated, “It has been our pleasure to work closely with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service to extend and refurbish Jimbelunga Nursing Centre which was officially opened this month.”

The redeveloped centre is a 74 bed facility and all residents have access to a range of health and community services through ATSICHS Brisbane. The interior environments were designed to encourage residents to participate and interact in the multipurpose communal areas. The interior circulation supports cognitive way-finding as well as providing pockets of spaces for resting, meeting and sitting. The layout and arrangement of the bedrooms in small groups/pods optimises the delivery of clinical care and support services, designed to improve the health and wellbeing of the residents and to support their daily lifestyles and activities.

The Jimbelunga landscape extends to provide for the health and wellbeing of residents, their guests and staff. There are a series of outdoor spaces that provide great opportunities for connection to the wider community, their families and friends, with the incorporation of the dance ring, playground, BBQ and arrangement for a bush tucker garden. The landscape is native and provides visual and physical relief for residents and their families. The connection to country was a driving force in the design. The connection to water, land, and nature takes pride of place with the incorporation of dry creek beds, bio filtration basins, native planting, circulation pathways and a bush tucker garden.

The redevelopment also includes a new central lawn providing safe and secure access from adjacent rooms. This central lawn extends into the new building through courtyards adjacent the multipurpose communal areas further reinforcing the connection to the landscape. This link encourages the residents to engage with the garden, facilitates orientation and provides a community care setting that is open, home like, safe and inviting.

Aged care facility design is a key area of Conrad Gargett’s expertise. The practice has been involved with design for the aged since 1959, ranging from residential aged care, dementia care, independent and retirement living developments.