A carefully curated aged care residence that through the thoughtful organisation and design of spaces draws in the adjacent nature reserve to full effect. This connection with nature is thematically reinforced through finishes and environments delivering a calming and comforting home to a seniors community.
Products
At its foremost an aged care facility is a home which should enhance the life of the resident in meaningful and connected ways. It was in this spirit that Spowers’ developed a strategy of connection through the surrounding native vegetation. This, in itself, became the key design driver that informed the planning and design contributes to the sense of place and belongingness for the residents.
Natural materials such as timbers, stone and neutral palette have been developed to further reinforce this connection by drawing the outside in. As the project stratifies through the various levels, each engaging with the site and surrounds in different ways, subtle changes occur in the finishes and treatments underpinned by a consistent base palette. This also develops a sense of identity and assists in wayfinding for the residents. Maintaining a contemporary and clean aesthetic delivers a calmness to the spaces, warmth delivered through considered lighting as well as abundance of natural daylight. This gives a further emphasis to the connectedness to the outside environment, enabling the resident to be aware of the changes throughout the day as well as the seasons.
Artedomus’ Maximum Calacatta Active 2.0 porcelain panels were selected for finishes in the kitchen, bathrooms and internal staircase walls.
ACTIVE 2.0 is a revolutionary photocatalytic surface that is antiviral, antibacterial and anti-odour. Active 2.0 reduces indoor nitrogen oxide and VOC levels, and its self-cleaning properties ensure ease of maintenance, reflecting the need for product performance to deliver beyond its physical appearance.
Fused to MAXIMUM porcelain panels or Fiandre porcelain tiles, ACTIVE 2.0 acts in a photocatalytic process to form an invisible and permanent surface that has the following properties:
These properties make Active 2.0 an ideal choice for internal, external, floor and wall usage in a variety of commercial projects. Active 2.0 is of particular benefit in hospitals and medical centres, where it reduces cross contamination, and the self-cleaning, anti-odour and antipollution action improves indoor air quality. Active 2.0 provides a non-toxic, easy-to-maintain surface for interiors of offices, hotels and residential buildings, and meets the demand for sustainability and wellbeing in the sector. Its 100-per-cent natural composition is free of toxic resins and chemical binders used in engineered stone, and its aesthetic beauty mimics natural stone, marble, concrete and more.
The invisible process offers a permanent solution that won’t wear out or wear off and is suitable for internal, external, floor and wall usage. Its antiviral and antibacterial properties, even under LED lights or in the dark, means that *it kills bacteria and viruses, including COVID-19 and its self-cleaning hydrophilic properties result in little or no need for detergents or physical cleaning, even when used for building façades.
Unlike the many surface materials that call themselves “antibacterial” but simply stop the spread of bacteria, MAXIMUM ACTIVE 2.0 kills bacteria, including E. Coli and MRSA and also kills viruses including COVID-19. ACTIVE 2.0 test results showed the ability of ACTIVE 2.0 to eliminate 94% of SARS-CoV-2 (responsible for COVID-19) after only 4 hours of exposure to low intensity UV light (natural light and traditional light bulbs even at low intensity). This significant result follows the ISO Certificates (ISO 21702 – ISO 18061) already obtained in respect of four well-known viral strains: the H1N1 and H3N2 Pandemic Influenzas, Enterovirus 71 and the Poliovirus. As well as ISO Certifications in the antibacterial field including antibiotic-resistant bacteria (ISO 27447 – ISO 22196).
Unlike any comparable building material, it does it in all common indoor lighting conditions – in sunlight, under UV light, under LED light, and even in complete darkness. For ISO 22196 compliance, bacteria placed on ACTIVE 2.0 was left in the dark for eight hours. In this time, E. Coli levels were reduced by 99.99% and MRSA levels were reduced by 99.61%. When specified into a building, this mitigates the risk of infection and reduces the need for intensive antibacterial detergents.
Active 2.0 is the only product on the market certified * as antiviral. Titanium dioxide in micrometric form is fused to porcelain surfaces at high temperature and pressure, forming a fine skin that can kill different types of viruses. Producing antiviral surfaces requires a fine level of precision because virus particles are smaller than bacteria. As such, inferior products on the market have only antibacterial properties.
MAXIMUM ACTIVE 2.0 also severely degrades airborne pollutants such as NOx, all VOCs and odours, physically cleaning the air around it. The “healthy building” benefits of ACTIVE 2.0 include its 100 per cent natural composition, free of the toxic resins and chemical binders used in engineered stone, and of course, its aesthetic beauty, with colours and markings mimicking natural stone, marble, concrete and more.
PHOTOS Tatjana Plitt
