The Coppel & Piekarski Family Disability Respite Centre

  • area / size 16,684 sqft
  • Completed 2016
  • Location Melbourne, Australia,
  • JCB Architects designed the The Coppel & Piekarski Family Disability Respite Centre to be a less traditional looking space for patient care in Melbourne, Australia.

    The Coppel and Piekarski Family Disability Respite Centre offers a new respite care facility for both children and adults with varied disabilities. The building form is fluid and sinuous, reflecting a whimsical approach that is contrary to the standard topology of such a facility. Accommodation wings are carved around landscaped areas with primary access from the living space to both passive and active courtyards. To maintain a ‘domestic’ quality, communal kitchen, dining and living areas avoid a de-institutionalised environment. Each courtyard provides a sculptured environment that capitalises on the northern aspect, facilitates cross flow ventilation and provides areas for play. Dynamic canopies provide an abstracted symbolic gesture referencing the ‘Star of David’, providing sunshade, weather protection and structures to be adorned for Jewish festivals.

    Architect: JCB Architects
    Photography: John Gollings