Aged Care design is about giving the clients/residence a functional and practical dwelling with all features of a standard house plus the added design criteria of making the dwelling accessible friendly. These types of dwelling can be stand alone or in a community type environment with common areas such as pools, halls and tennis courts. When designing an aged care project, whether it be a standalone or community type dwelling, the client demographic and location of the project will be the main focus driving the project. To this end these types of dwellings need to be both practical and visually pleasing to achieve to required outcome.

These types of developments are quite often designed on a budget which in turn makes the layout of the dwelling feel less than homey and sterile. Visually they lack any impact and normally do not fit into the streetscape comfortably. When designing projects like this visual impact, dwelling layout and clients budget are all of permanent importance to achieve the finished product, a functional layout with a visually appealing exterior on a budget.  

Residential developments whether they be a complete new build or an extension require a thorough understanding of the client’s needs and ideas. This combined with council regulations and an understanding of the residential streetscape in which the project is being designed, will help achieve a harmonious development that will both meet the clients brief and be acceptable to councils regulations.

In today’s society these types of developments are no long acceptable to just be a practical/functional building with a crude exterior that is visual hard in the streetscape. Quite often the main designed parameter is the budget with the exterior façade being left to last. Irrespective of whether or not the project is commercial this type of developments need to be both function and visually attractive. By using various building materials and ideas combined with creative landscaping, projects like this can meet a tight budget as well as being visually pleasing.