A new extension to Arvida Group’s St Albans Retirement Village is set to blur the lines between retirement village and the wider community; a move common to Arvida Group which has recognised the requirements of the emerging baby boomer senior citizens who want to remain a part of the community, while also needing the additional care and support a retirement village can provide.
St Albans Retirement Village is undergoing a continued development process with various phases of development activity currently underway.
First on the agenda is a refit of part of the existing ground floor of the village, where some rooms and serviced apartments have been removed to create a new café facility for residents and their visitors.
A new reception area and hair salon are going in to the same space, making the café and the reception area front of house at St Albans Retirement Village.
The activities room is being refurbished with new lights, carpets, and redecoration, and the dining room is being reshaped. A new commercial grade kitchen is being built beside the existing kitchen and café.
Once that is operational, focus will turn to creating a number of new care beds where the existing kitchen is now. Later this year, work will begin on a new stand alone 21-apartment building at the front of the village facing Caledonian Road.
Arvida Group development manager Peter Hornby says the apartments are targeted towards the younger older person, and the new café is part of supporting them, their families, and other visitors.
He says Arvida Group is aiming to create an environment with more of a homely feel.
“We want to create a fantastic environment for our residents and one where families and kids can come and hang out, visit their gran or grandad and enjoy the space as well,” he says.
“We don’t want an institutional environment behind a big wall, we want it to look and feel like a home our residents feel comfortable in.
There is a real drive for Arvida to move away from that institutional, hospital environment to more of a home from home. It is a common thread to create this type of facility across Arvida in both the North and South Islands.
After the apartment block is completed, we will begin to increase the size of our care wing, then move on to landscaping, new boundary walls, and a general facelift to uplift the whole environment from the outside in.
A new stand alone 21-apartment building is planned for Arvida Group’s St Albans Retirement Village, as part of a continuing development phase at the complex.
Peter says the extension at St Albans Retirement Village is maximising the capacity of the facility and creating a comfortable environment to cater to the increasing demand for this type of facility.
St Albans Retirement Village is a purpose built, centrally located village providing retirement living and care Christchurch’s senior citizen s.
Residents can choose their own levels of independence with lifestyle options ranging from total independence to 24 hour hospital level care.
The surrounding neighbourhood is well serviced by medical professionals, churches, bowling clubs, but stops, and parks.
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