Artful Touches in Aged Care
Edensor Gardens in South West Sydney is an aged care environment without the clinical feel of a typical seniors’ living facility. Indeed, the design brief asked for “a home environment that looks and feels like a high-end hotel, yet operates to the needs of the resident, the visitor, and the staff.”
Turner Studio has succeeded in creating an environment that balances luxury design with senior living functionality, with plenty of bespoke touches from fabrics and furniture to light fittings and artwork.
The designers commissioned Di Emme to produce two distinctive pieces for the project, a metalwork sculpture for the café and custom ceiling feature for reception area.
Turner’s design was inspired by the seasons. “In keeping with this concept, Turner wanted leaves on the café ceiling,” said Di Emme project manager, Andrew Pugh.
“They provided us with a rough sketch for the leaf sculpture but we were given pretty free rein on the design and construction,” said Andrew.
“The project took shape during the middle of the coronavirus lockdown, but we were able to construct the linished aluminium leaves in our Leichhardt workshop and we exchanged a series of photos for approval as the artwork progressed. We usually produce maquettes for sculptural pieces but in this instance, we made it up as we went along.”
“The sculpture is finished with a coloured oil glaze which allows the linished aluminium to show through. We added half a dozen LED pin lights to provide a little flash of light here and there.”
“Turner were more prescriptive when it came to the acrylic ceiling feature for the reception area. They specified the sizes, quantities and colours of the acrylic discs and then assigned Di Emme the task of creating an interesting and cohesive arrangement.”
“The frosted acrylic discs have an attractive matt appearance, while the recessed lighting in the ceiling adds a subtle luminosity.”
“Di Emme installed both creations at Edensor Gardens,” said Andrew. “From a practical and aesthetic perspective, the installation was critical to both pieces.”