116 | LIFESTYLE Qestral Corporation - Ashbury Heights T T Kelly Deeks Creating a comfortable care environment The Ashbury Heights Care Centre received a Gold Award at the 2026 New Zealand Commercial Projects Awards and is a finalist in the 2026 ACA Excellence in Design Award. “We want people to have choices, whether they are living independently or require more support.” Ashbury Heights is putting a strong emphasis on design in retirement living, with the Qestral Corporation development in Whangārei’s Maunu suburb recognised with a Gold Award and now named a finalist in a national aged care design award. The Ashbury Heights Care Centre received a Gold Award at the 2026 New Zealand Commercial Projects Awards and is a finalist in the 2026 ACA Excellence in Design Award. Qestral Managing Director Simon O’Dowd says the recognition reflects the thinking behind a care facility designed to feel more like a residential environment than a traditional institutional setting. The single-storey Care Centre provides rest home and hospital-level care, with accessibility and resident comfort central to its design. Its layout and scale are intended to make daily movement straightforward, while the residential styling avoids the clinical feel often associated with higher-level care. “It’s about creating a care environment that feels residential, comfortable, and easy to navigate,” Simon says. The Care Centre forms part of the wider Ashbury Heights Lifestyle Village, which combines independent homes with higher levels of care and continues to expand as new stages are developed. The village was designed by award-winning +MAP Architects, with the independent homes arranged to resemble an upmarket residential subdivision rather than a conventional retirement village. Most are standalone homes, with two- and three-bedroom options, different roof designs, and single or double garages. A strong focus on landscaping and open space is intended to give the village a less intensive feel, with gardens, sculptures, and other features creating individual character around the homes. Simon says this approach is important to the overall concept, giving residents a sense of having their own home while remaining part of a community where additional support is available as needs change. The independent homes can also access Qestral’s optional butler service, an intermediate care package designed to help residents remain self-sufficient for longer. Services include weekly housekeeping, nutritious meals delivered to homes, and telehealth support through Qestral’s internally developed healthcare technology. Within the Care Centre, residents have access to spacious dual-purpose care suites, each with an ensuite bathroom and private deck. The suites are designed to accommodate both rest home and hospital-level care, reducing the need for residents to move rooms if their care requirements change. Registered nurses, enrolled nurses, and healthcare assistants work alongside visiting health professionals including doctors, nurse practitioners, physiotherapists, podiatrists, and optometrists. The wider village is planned to eventually comprise about 240 homes, with development continuing in stages. This staged approach means the community can grow progressively while maintaining the open spaces and landscaping that form an important part of the original design. Ashbury Heights is part of the wider Qestral Group, which also received international recognition this year, winning Operator of the Year – Senior Living and Operator of the Year – Residential Aged Care at the 2026 World Ageing Festival. For Simon, the awards are recognition of an approach that treats retirement living, care, architecture, and community as interconnected parts of the same development. “We want people to have choices, whether they are living independently or require more support, without losing the feeling that they are living in a home,” he says.
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NDc2Mzg=