Boollam Boollam Aged Care Centre

The Brief

Monash Health commissioned a new 150-bed aged care facility in Cheltenham with a brief that was straightforward to state and demanding to achieve: bathrooms that feel like home, function like a hospital, and hold up over decades of intensive use.

ClarkeHopkinsClarke Architects were responsible for approximately 140 custom ensuite vanities and 20 integrated hand wash basins. The requirements spanned compliance, clinical performance, and resident wellbeing:

• AS1428.1 compliance for accessible bathrooms used by residents with wheelchairs and mobility aids
• Infection control performance that would satisfy clinical governance
• A material that could be repaired in place rather than replaced
• A finish that didn’t distress residents with dementia through glare or unexpected reflections
• Consistent and buildable across approximately 150 repeat installations

Material Specification

Corian® Solid Surface — Glacier White

Earlier projects had combined Corian® shelving with vitreous China basins. For this brief, that wasn’t sufficient. The junction between the two materials created horizontal ledges — surfaces where bacteria accumulate and cleaning protocols are harder to satisfy. In a healthcare environment where infection control is audited, every unnecessary join is a liability.

The solution was a fully integrated Corian® basin and benchtop, fabricated as a single seamless unit. Each vanity also incorporated an open storage nook for larger personal items, concealed storage above the basin, and an adjacent open shelf for frequently used items — balancing resident independence with ease of assisted care.

Glacier White was selected for its matte, low-reflectivity finish. High-gloss or polished surfaces can produce reflections that disorient residents with dementia or cognitive conditions. Tap placement and splash control were refined through a full-scale prototype, installed in an off-site mock-up of a typical bedroom and ensuite before production commenced.

Design Outcome

The seamless Corian® surface eliminates the joins, ledges, and transitions that complicate infection control — giving cleaning staff a single continuous surface with no junction between basin and bench, no grout line retaining moisture, no edge detail trapping contamination.

The prototype process was where the design was stress-tested. With the contractor engaged, the team reviewed shop drawings and confirmed accessibility clearances, refined mounting methods, adjusted tap placement, and verified infection control compliance against the actual installed unit before committing to 150. The result was a design that went into production with the hard questions already answered.

In the words of the design team, the finished result demonstrates how thoughtful design can enhance everyday living in aged care environments — while satisfying every clinical and compliance requirement the brief demanded.

Why It Works for Similar Projects

Aged care and residential care Seamless integration eliminates problematic joins. The low-reflectivity finish supports residents with cognitive conditions. Repairability reduces whole-of-life cost for operators managing large building portfolios.

Hospitals and clinical environments Corian® can be fabricated to eliminate every join and ledge that presents a cleaning challenge — and renewed on site if surface damage occurs, without full replacement.

Disability accommodation and accessible housing The AS1428.1-compliant design is directly transferable to SDA, NDIS accommodation, and any project with accessible bathroom requirements — removing obstacles for wheelchair users while maintaining a domestic aesthetic.

Large-scale repeat installations For projects requiring repeat bathroom installations — residential towers, student accommodation, build-to-rent, hotels — early CASF engagement in the design process, before documentation is finalised, is where consistency is built in.

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