The active retiree of today is trading the suburban garden unit for a high-rise urban apartment with generous balconies, as demonstrated by Aveo’s popular new Bella Vista Retirement Resort in Sydney’s northwest. With 64 apartments over 10 levels, the development has been constructed from eco-friendly cross laminated timber and features sizeable balconies accessed through Alspec Altitude Apartment Sliding doors.

No longer wanting to live out their days in sleepy retirement villages, new resorts such as this offer the active retiree the best of all worlds. The development provides many onsite facilities including a library, café, restaurant, conference facilities, wellness centre, medical services, public transport and easy access to nearby shopping hubs. Residents can enjoy services and recreation facilities within the building or be just a few steps away from all city living has to offer.

Aveo’s Bella Vista property is one of Australia’s largest cross laminated timber (CLT) projects, with 9 of the 10 levels being completed with the wood panel product. Made by gluing layers of solid timber together, CLT is more environmentally friendly than other construction materials as it requires less energy in the manufacturing process. It is light, flexible and uses less space than concrete and steel, making more functional space available within a building. By being prefabricated off site, onsite building time is reduced leading to lower construction costs. With high thermal insulation properties CLT can be used for walls, roofs or ceilings, with the thickness of panels varied as required. 

The addition of generous balconies has ensured residents can easily access a variety of indoor-outdoor living spaces and enjoy the expansive city and district views. Alspec’s Altitude Apartment Sliding doors were selected to maximise views, with the large sliding panels being 2769mm high and up to 1500mm wide. While 6mm glass was used for this development, widths up to 18mm can also be accommodated if desired. The versatile Altitude door was used in a range of configurations including XO, XXO, OXXO and OXXXXO, depending the width of the opening to be enclosed. The clever design of the Altitude doors has enabled the floor level to be the same inside to out, providing a duty of care to the retiree residents by eliminating a potential trip hazard. The smooth transition ensures a safe and accessible environment, while still providing optimum protection from wind and water.

As the first of ten stages planned for the site, Aveo Bella Vista is an exciting example of the potential of vertical retirement living to provide the active retiree with all of the benefits of city-centric living close to the services and activities they now have the leisure time to enjoy.

View more: https://www.architectureanddesign.com.au/sustainability-awards/aveo-norwest-at-sydney-s-northwest-business-park

Architect: Jackson Teece
Builder: Strongbuild
Fabricator: Arch Systems

Alspec Products Used:
Altitude® Apartment Sliding Door