Opal - Applecross
Design Year: 2019
Location: Applecross, WA
Design Type: Aged Care Facility
Construction Stage: Tender
Design Firm: Meli Studio
Designers: Melanie Hopkins (Head Designer), Lisa Gonclaves (Assistant Designer), Mackenzie Peachy (Junior Designer)
Computer programs: Archicad, Powerpoint, Word, Excel
About the Design
Meli Studio was hired to drive the design on this flagship new build for Opal aged care. The facility is located in Applecross in WA.
The Boathouse theme was put together to reflect the location and lifestyle of the area. Various woods, brass, white and blue tones have been used to bring the boathouse theme to life. We selected a plaster board that has grooves in the sheet to look like wood boards to give a cheaper alternative to ship-lap boards. This look can be seen mostly in the living spaces of the facility in the corridors, staff stations, TV Rooms and Dining rooms.
The exterior of the building has wood slat cladding, we decided to bring this feature inside, particularly to the public spaces on the ground floor to bring continuity to the overall building. The wood slats selected are light, simple and quick to install with a male / female connection the builder can easily screw the slats either directly into the wall, or ceiling / floor depending on the design. Custom privacy screens were designed to look like ship sails. These were also used to cover columns in the main living spaces and turn them into design feature. The screens also acted a room dividers helping break up the large open spaces.
Custom buffet units have been designed for all dining rooms and a similar buffet in the private dining room. Other custom pieces include planter boxes, Bookcases with built in fireplaces, bedheads & built in robes in bedrooms, kitchenettes in staff rooms and activity rooms. I worked on most areas with Lisa designing the bedroom joinery (excluding the beadhead) & all Ensuites / WC's. Mackenzie documented my design of the activity rooms and staff room. A few feature items such as the sail screens and the planter boxes were designed by Veronica.
To avoid putting my complete design online, I will only be showing the reception, cafe, salon, dining room, beadhead and staff room kitchen below. More can be seen upon request.
