Landcom is about to transform the way people think about building their dream home with the opening of its first universal house. The Benchmark home is located at The Ponds in Sydney’s north-west.
The future oriented home embraces the universal housing concept which is part of a suite of design guidelines Landcom now uses across all of its developments. They have been generated to assist developers create more sustainable environments for their communities. The universal housing guide was influenced by the Australian Standard for Adaptable Housing. Universal housing is a practical response to the needs of our ageing population.
Steve Driscoll, Landcom’s Sustainability and Policy Director commented, “Universal housing refers to homes that are practical and flexible. They meet the needs of people of different ages and abilities over time. Most of the homes built today are not designed to accommodate their owners’ changing life needs which is one of the reasons why many people, of necessity, are forced to move possibly several times during their life time. Aside from the financial cost of this, there's also a social cost.”
“Importantly, the universal housing focus enables owners to age in their own homes located in familiar surroundings. Owners feel secure in the knowledge that the features incorporated into their homes are designed to be responsive to their changing needs as they grow older. One of the great advantages of the Benchmark home is that it is designed to think about these various life stages.”
“Houses don't make a community - they are just building blocks. It's the people who live in houses who form communities. Unfortunately local communities lose a great deal when ageing people, who have lived most of their lives in a particular dwelling, need to move away because the house is no longer suitable for their changing age related capabilities. Given the reality of our ageing population, there is no point designing homes that don't support ageing in place. The universal housing concept addresses this issue and by doing so offers significant societal benefits at individual and community levels,” he added.
“The design of the home is so clever that the naked eye would not see any major differences when comparing it with another house. It is simply a much more thoughtful house from a building perspective: being universal has not hindered its aesthetic appeal in any way.”
"While universal housing has an obvious appeal to older people, if you have designed a home which is wheelchair friendly, you've also designed one which is stroller friendly. This is important in terms of increasing the market appeal of a home when it is finally sold."
Shaila Divakarla, Design Sustainability Specialist from Clarendon Homes, and builder of the Benchmark home added, “The home affords home owners a comfortable healthy lifestyle and highlights that you don’t have to give up anything to be environmentally friendly. By living longer in the one home, people are contributing to reducing their impact on the environment.”
“The universal housing concept is a very smart one and is already changing the way the building industry approaches future housing needs.”
Universal housing features in the Benchmark home include level transition between indoor and outdoor areas suitable for wheelchairs and strollers, wider external and internal doors and spacious and open planned living areas. The living room on the ground floor can be easily converted into a full universal size bedroom while the powder room on the same level can be converted to a full universal bathroom. This area can accommodate a fully fledged ensuite with sufficient circulation space and layout of fixtures for people with disabilities. Waterproofing and drainage for a shower are incorporated into the linen cupboard which allows for conversion into a shower recess at a later date. Provision for hand rails, through wall strengthening has also been made around the toilet and shower areas. An extra drainage point for the toilet has been provided for installing a wheelchair friendly toilet if needed. Also, additional drainage to the kitchen sink has been built in to enable the island bench to be moved to create more space between the kitchen benchtops if required in the future.
For further information visit: www.ecolivingdisplayhomes.com.au
Media contact: Natasha McGuire, Red Leopard PR, Phone: 02 9328 4248 or 04000 90553.
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