The Alba

The Alba’s design process addressed the challenges of transforming a seventies office building into a premium aged care precinct. The original core, facade and slabs were retained with the internal spatial layout entirely redesigned to create an inviting atmosphere. One of the key consideration of the design brief was to promote a sense of community and connection, while maximising natural light into the building.

Considering the building a whole, we wanted to make sure The Alba seamlessly connected to its context, that is why a lively café is featured on the ground level, near the lobby.

The upper levels of The Alba are designed to foster a “small-household” model of care, which allows staff to care for residents in small numbers, this determined the amount of suites per floor. This approach ensures that staff can provide holistic care, including clinical, dietary and housekeeping services seamlessly. The assisted living apartments are designed to be adaptable, allowing for future retrofits to meet the evolving needs of residents as their care requirements change. Rooms are meticulously arranged around existing structural conditions to avoid lengthy corridors and enhance connectivity throughout.

Converting the building from commercial to aged care use required close collaboration with structural and service engineers from the outset. Safety was a paramount concern, and the transformation involved innovative solutions to meet the compliance requirements for a Class 9c building. This included structural reinforcement, as well as the creation of new access and egress points within the tower.

With occupant comfort and residential experience at the forefront, internal slabs were strategically cut on several floors to create three-storey voids to encourage inter-floor engagement and allow light to filter through. New windows and balconies were also added to the northern-facing wall to maximise light penetration throughout the floorplate.

The Alba’s design excels the client’s brief. Throughout the building, a strong focus on creating welcoming environment that fosters autonomy, independence and well-being is evident throughout.

Keeping in mind that the suites and ALAs are peoples homes, joinery pieces that serve as memory boxes and keepsake displays are featured by the front door of suites. The inclusion of amenities such as a private rooftop restaurant (catered by Curtin Stone Events), cinema, library, games room, rehabilitation gym, consultation rooms and a hair salon, caters to a blend of interest and needs, fostering a vibrant and inclusive community.

The design of The Alba embraces and celebrates the existing structure, transforming limitations into opportunities. Functionally, the floorplate responds to the brief for needing an inviting, home-like environment. The internal layout of the RAC levels centres around three-storey voids to encourage interfloor engagement through shared sights, smells and sounds for residents and their visitors, creating a village-like atmosphere. Suites and apartments were meticulously arranged around existing structural conditions to avoid lengthy corridors that feel institutional. The interior architecture was designed to have a residential quality and scale while meeting Class 9c accessibility standards and clinical requirements.

Natural light and ventilation are maximised through the addition of balconies in every apartment and communal area, while new energy-efficient glazing enhances its thermal properties.

By departing from traditional institutional aged care models, The Alba sets a new benchmark in vertical aged care living. This project exemplifies the benefits and potential for repurposing existing buildings and extending their lifespan while providing high-quality purpose-built homes.

The Alba represents a groundbreaking achievement in the seniors living sector, pioneering the adaptive reuse of a commercial building into a premium aged care precinct. This world-first project challenges conventional approaches to purpose-built developments.

By retaining the structure, we confronted and overcame significant design challenges to create a functional and inviting aged care environment. The integration of a diverse range of care services, from low to high care, within a single building is unprecedented, and allows residents to truly age in place.

The Alba redefines the possibilities of aged care living, demonstration that high-quality, purpose-built aged care homes can be successfully realised within existing structures and in a vertical urban setting. This project sets a new benchmark for the seniors living and built environment industry, inspiring future developments to explore similar repositioning strategies.

The Alba stands as a testament to the transformative power of design and highlights the possibilities of adaptive reuse. By repurposing a vacant office tower into a vibrant aged care precinct, The Alba has delivered significant benefits to the client, the community and the environment.

Choosing to retain, rather than demolish and rebuild, the design has saved 3,370 tonnes of embodied carbon. Beyond the reduction of embodied carbon and new materials, this approach has extended the building’s lifespan, exemplifying the positive environmental impact of adaptive reuse.

Moreover, by providing high-quality aged care option within an urban, inner-city context, The Alba allows families and residents who would move away and travel, stay within their familiar neighbourhoods. The project’s economic contribution through job creation and social value also demonstrates the broader ripple effects of investing in well-design, ageing in place focused projects in a suburb like South Melbourne.

This project highlights the critical role of design in addressing societal challenges, such as aging populations, housing choice and decarbonising our built environment. The Alba serves as an exemplar for design innovation and its potential to create enduring positive change. We hope this projects inspires developers and asset owners to consider adaptive reuse before demolishing and adopt a people-centred approach to their design.

The Alba’s success reinforces the value of design and stewardship of buildings. The Alba positions Victoria, and Australia, as a leader in innovation and pioneers in adaptive reuse, setting a benchmark for the aged care sector both nationally and internationally.