BY WONG PEK MEI

A view of the third floor of the Royal Freemasons Homes – Coppin Centre in Melbourne. The project involved the conversion of what used to be an administrative space in to homes for the elderly.

AFTER successfully designing homes for the elderly in Australia, Veritas Architects Australia Pty Ltd, an arm of Malaysia-based Veritas Architects Sdn Bhd, has big visions of providing the same type of property on our shores.

They are planning to bring in retirement homes and proper aged-care homes and dispel the stigma that currently surrounds aged care in the region.

“We want to create an environment that is not like a hospital but a home for the elders to live their lives and where they will be proud to live in,” said Veritas Architects Australia principal Anton Alers.

He said the retirement market in Australia has been in existence for more than 40 years while Malaysia is just getting starting.

“There is a difference between retirement living and aged care.

“Retirement living is done by choice while aged care is something you go to when there is no choice and need to be looked after,” he said.

He said in Malaysia, they are trying educate the public for a decade that aged care can be done in residential style and not in an institutional environment.

“We want to promote a life of retirement that is active and encourages social activities rather than living in isolation and being cut off from the world,” he said.

Alers says Veritas is planning to develop retirement homes and proper aged-care homes and dispel the stigma that currently surrounds aged care in the region.

He said children here are hesitant about putting their elders in existing aged care facilities which may not give proper care and a conducive environment. He cites the practice of sharing toilets as one example of a drawback in some existing elder-care facilities.

“In Australia, there is no shame in living in retirement and aged-care homes and they are proud to live in a proper environment.

“Aging has to be handled sensitively and respectfully,” he said.

One of the projects done by the company include the Royal Freemasons Home – Coppin Centre in Melbourne which caters for wealthier residents while also providing for charitable cases as a not-for profit organisation.

The project involved the conversion of what used to be an administrative space into 18 aged-care apartments and rooms on the top floor of the Coppin Centre development.

As for Malaysia, Veritas Architects Australia is currently working with Veritas Architects Kuala Lumpur in designing a large aged-care project called the Harmony Hills Aged Care for a not-for-profit organisation on the outskirts of Kuala Lumpur.

“The proposed 800-bed facility will provide both shared and single-room accommodations in a non-institutional care environment,” he said.

Alers said they are targeting those elders who need to be looked after such as those suffering dementia. “We’re currently going through the approval process now. It will be located at the south east side of Kuala Lumpur.

“We are targeting for the project to be ready by 2018,” Alers said.

The company is also planning a large retirement community north of Kuala Lumpur, called The Sanctuary, which is expected to be completed in 2018.

“This project is aimed at active retirees in their 60s and families. It is also potentially for younger people with elderly parents.

“It will feature strata-titled apartments or condominiums in a gated community.

“There will be a central clubhouse to encourage a healthy lifestyle and a small medical centre,” he said, adding that the company is in the midst of working on the details of the concept design and masterplan for the project.