First Passive House in retirement village a costly one-off
Keyton, jointly owned and operated under a trust structure by Aware Super (49.9%), APG Asset Management (25%) and Lendlease (25.1%), has built the first Passive House in an Australian retirement village.
The House is the highest priced home being sold in the final stage of expansion at Keyton’s The Grove retirement village in Ngunnawal, ACT, alongside a revitalised Gold Creek Homestead and an incoming aged care facility to be delivered by Arcare.
One of 29 additional independent living villas, the Passive House is being sold on “expressions of interest”. Currently, there is a three-bedroom, two-bathroom villa with two car spaces in the stage for sale for $1.175 million, with two-bedroom villas priced at $790,000. The Passive House will be more erxpensive as it costg considerably more to build.
Developed in Germany in the 1990s, a ‘Passive House’ is a rigorous design standard that achieves thermal comfort with minimal heating and cooling by using insulation, airtightness, appropriate window and door design, ventilation systems with heat recovery, and elimination of thermal bridges.
The Passive House is – currently – a one-off project for the village operator.
“For Keyton, the project has been, first and foremost a learning exercise,” Chief Executive Officer Nathan Cockerill said.
“We wanted to understand how Passive House principles can enhance the efficiency, comfort and overall performance of future retirement homes.
“These are features that can meaningfully improve how older Australians live, and we’re exploring how elements of this design can be applied in future developments.”
The Passive House was decided upon before Keyton agreed the sector’s first green loan.
“We want to understand what works, what delivers the greatest impact for residents, and what can be adapted cost effectively across new communities,” Nathan said.
“It’s all about taking the best of Passive House thinking and applying it in a way that supports healthy and confident ageing; and saves residents some money on their energy bills as well.”
Project team:
- Architect: Demaine Partnership;
- Passive House Consultant: LAROS Group;
- Builder: Monarch Building Solutions; and
- Certifier: Detail Green.
Keyton owns and operates 67 retirement villages. The operator is currently:
- Building 211 apartments across six buildings for its retirement village Verso Place in Vermont South, 19km east of Melbourne’s CBD;
- Named the preferred partner for the Cronulla RSL redevelopment in Sydney’s South; and
- Awaiting a State Significant Development Application for its University of Wollongong seniors living project.
