34 | LIFESTYLE The Hawthorndale Care Village T T Kim Newth Village transforming dementia care Invercargill’s Hawthorndale Care Village, which opened in March 2025, is the first of its kind in New Zealand to have fully adopted an innovative, de-institutionalised approach to dementia care based on the acclaimed Dutch care model, De Hogeweyk. The $39 million, state-of-the-art, community-funded village is focussed on providing a familiar lifestyle in a safe environment, catering for all types of care from rest home and hospital care to dementia care. Village amenities include a café, dairy, theatre, hairdresser, library, gym, chapel and menz shed. The 86-bed village has 13 care houses, each accommodating six to seven residents, in addition to 10 independent living villas. Residents are free to move around the landscaped village, with a kilometre of footpaths to explore. All are encouraged to get out into the fresh air and enjoy the beautiful gardens and grounds that include a playground for visiting grandchildren. Planning for Hawthorndale Care Village began in 2015, when the Calvary Hospital board was seeking a way to care for a growing number of Southlanders diagnosed with dementia. After much research, Calvary Management and Board developed a proposal for a dementia care village based on the De Hogeweyk model, which focusses on quality of life for residents by fostering normalcy, autonomy and a sense of familiarity and peace. Dementia is a growing challenge throughout New Zealand. According to Alzheimers New Zealand, the number of Kiwis living with dementia is set to nearly double by 2050. This visionary village showcases a new way to provide dementia care. Before committing to the De Hogeweyk approach, the Calvary team undertook thorough research and completed a feasibility study to ensure the model was right for Southland. In 2019, the Board made a clear, values-led decision to proceed. Building on New Zealand’s first dementia care village in Rotorua, the design adapts the De Hogeweyk principles for a local context. Despite the disruption of Covid and rising construction costs, the Board showed strong leadership and resolve by choosing to proT T to page 36 ceed with construction in October 2022 in its commitment to long-term, quality dementia care for the region. Frank O’Boyle, Chair of Hawthorndale Care Village, says opening the doors on the village last March was an incredible achievement — not just for the board, but for the entire community that dug deep to fundraise, provide services and volunteer to make the village a reality. “There was a lot of relief and emotion on that particular day and a lot of pride too that it had all finally come together,” says Frank. “It takes so many years to get from a vision to bricks and mortar, so it was wonderful to be able to celebrate the opening with all our key partners who had supported us through the whole process.” www.lewisbradford.com Lewis Bradford is proud to have provided the structural engineering expertise for this amazing and thoughtful project. Congratulations to The Hawthorndale Care Village and the rest of the project team.
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