New Haven Farm Residential Development

Architect

Government Architect’s Office (NSW)

Program overview
Project architect (concept design, construction advice)

William Phelps

Location

Reserve Road, Freemans Reach

Client

Ageing, Disability and Home Care Agency (ADHC)

Project cost

$5 million

Completion

2016

The residential development at New Haven Farm was part of a program to redevelop a number of existing Large Residential Centres (LRC’s) throughout NSW, operated by Non-Government Organisations (NGO’s) to provide accommodation and care for people living with disability. The Government Architect’s Office was engaged to design the redevelopment of three of the NGO-operated LRC’s, with each redevelopment involving a number of discrete projects on separate sites.

Located on single sites and institutional in nature, the existing LRC’s were replaced with contemporary accommodation, located both on the existing sites and within the community. The new accommodation is smaller in scale, and is designed to provide a home-like environment with more privacy, flexibility in daily living, and opportunities for increased participation in the local community.

The design for each home or group of homes is particular to its individual setting, and responds to context and scale while maximising solar access, privacy and outlook. Each home has a specific character, and where possible has its own identifiable street address, creating a sense of identity and belonging for the residents.

The New Haven Farm development is located on the existing LRC site, in a semi-rural setting featuring pockets of Cumberland Plain Woodland vegetation. The project provides three group homes, each with four bedrooms, and a small administration building.

The design for the development reflected the rural setting, with each home taking cues from vernacular farmhouses and assuming the form of a series of pitched-roof pavilions, gathering around a garden and linked by a verandah. Bushfire-resistant hardwood cladding provides a low-maintenance finish that will weather to a soft silver-grey.