Conventional scheme
- 2
- Floor levels
An existing building at one level and an extension at a much higher one, joined by significant internal pedestrian ramping.
Case study · Aged care · Murrumbeena
One floor level, across old and new.
A live-site aged care extension for Brimlea Aged Care, built in five stages so residents stay in place, with a flood overlay challenged to avoid internal ramping.
- Location
- Murrumbeena, VIC
- Sector
- Aged care
- Client
- Brimlea Aged Care
- Authority
- Glen Eira City Council
- Value band
- $5M–$10M
- Status
- Building documentation underway
- New aged care beds
- 15
- New aged care beds
- Storeys approved
- 2
- Storeys approved
- Engagement to permit
- 8 mths
- Engagement to permit
- Objections
- 0
- Objections
01 — The project
Decades of additions, brought together.
- Client
- Brimlea Aged Care
- Brief
- Consolidate the site and remove existing shared accommodation
- Setting
- Refurbish the existing buildings and add extensions
- Existing site
- Buildings extended and refurbished over several decades
Brimlea Aged Care wanted to consolidate the site and remove existing shared accommodation. The existing buildings had been extended and refurbished over several decades.
02 — The problem
A live site, a flood overlay.
Residents stayed in place throughout. The existing buildings were complex, and the flood overlay threatened to force ramps through the building.
- 01Site
Residents stay in place through five stages
With residents staying in place, we devised a staging plan with the client. It became part of the construction documentation, so the services design was detailed accordingly and tendering builders allowed for the program and complexity.
- 02Engineering
Double-storey buildings, plus basement
The existing structures made it harder to decide what layout changes were possible.
- 03Consent
A flood overlay
Considerable work and extensive negotiation with the relevant authorities was needed to set the extension floor level.
- 04Approvals
Two floor levels in the previous scheme
A previous design practice's scheme had two floor levels between the existing building and the extension because of the flood overlay, with considerable internal ramping between them.
Who we worked with
- Brimlea Aged Care
- Flood overlay authorities
- Glen Eira City Council
03 — The first move
Flood overlay authorities
The decision that set the direction came early: we would challenge the floor level height the earlier scheme had accepted.
If the authorities agreed, the extension could sit at the same level as the existing building, and residents could move through one building without ramps.
- EXExisting buildingBeds
- NEWExtension, matched to the existing levelSame level
- —Internal ramping between the two, no longer needed
Floor level agreed with the relevant authorities despite the flood overlay.
04 — Before & after
One building, one floor level.
What a conservative scheme would have delivered, against what was approved.
Approved scheme
- 1
- Consistent floor level
One building, existing and extension, with the same floor level throughout.
2→1floor levels
How the floor level was won
We challenged the requirement with the relevant authorities and succeeded in adopting a lower floor level in the extension, in keeping with the existing building.
05 — What we delivered
One practice, from first sketch to site.
De Nova led design, approvals and documentation directly. Tender and contract administration are still to follow.
Schematic design
Layout and the floor-level strategy.
CompleteTown planning
Permit documentation.
CompleteBuilding documentation
Underway, including the staging plan.
UpcomingTender
To follow.
UpcomingContract administration
To follow, through construction.
Upcoming
Building documentation underway
06 — Working with Council
No objections. One RFI.
A clean approval. The one real unknown was whether the authorities would agree to the floor level.
| Glen Eira City Council | |
|---|---|
| Pre-application | None |
| Objections | None |
| RFIs | 1Addressed |
Planning permit — Council8 months
The floor-level negotiation with the flood overlay authorities ran alongside the permit.
07 — Honest notes
What we'd tell you over coffee.
Nobody in our industry publishes this part. We think you should see it.
A further review during documentation.
The approval was smooth. The driveway and crossing design required a further review during building documentation.
“I'd have checked the previous designer's approved scheme more closely.”
Our client approached us with an existing planning permit and a very different alternative scheme for the site. That previous scheme was deemed not appropriate from a capital expenditure perspective. We provided a very different concept for the site. As part of that design, we adopted the earlier designer’s scheme for the driveway and entrance crossing design, as it had formed part of the earlier Council approval and we thought it best not to unnecessarily further complicate the application, given the location was suitable. Following receipt of our planning permit, and whilst working through detailed design as part of the building documentation phase, we noticed that the crossing and driveway design may not be compliant. So a traffic engineer was appointed to review, and sure enough it was neither compliant nor practical. A minor amendment to the current permit application was lodged with Council to remedy this, and the building documentation was amended accordingly.
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The proposal
Case study
Experience across diverse sectors
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