Aged-Care Scheme Mooted for Former Sydney Convent Site

An aged-care facility on a former Carmelite convent site in Sydney’s Inner West has been earmarked for redevelopment.

The Maronite Sisters of the Holy Family Village plans to demolish and redevelop its 28 Marrickville Avenue, Marrickville, facility into 99 apartments.

The plans are on exhibition.

The residential aged-care operator, which has operated in Australia since 1968, wants to build a four-storey care facility at the site, next to its existing care facility. 

The project would comprise one-bedroom units with a single two-bedroom unit.

The existing Village 2 site would continue to operate alongside the proposed development “which will also provide key staffing and service resources to existing Village 2”, its State Significant Development application said. 

There will also be ground-floor amenities, including a chapel, and internal courtyard, as well as dining and staff facilities.

▲ A rendering of the proposed Marrickville Road seniors development.

It said that the development would deliver “critically needed” seniors housing with “enhanced liveability, as well as universal design elements that address the needs of an ageing population”.

In a nod to its convent roots, the facade of the Jackson Teece-designed facility comprises arched Juliet balconies, inspired by the cultural heritage of Maronite traditional architecture.

The Environmental Impact Statement for the development said that the senior age bracket (70 to 84 years) had the highest population growth in the Inner West between 2016 and 2021. 

▲ Jackson Teece designed the project, inspired by Maronite architecture.

As a result, the project would fill a “strategic need for diverse seniors’ housing options that do not compromise lifestyle”. 

It would allow residents to “age in place close to family and familiar places”, an opportunity in a location with “limited options” for care. 

There are also education facilities onsite, including St Maroun’s Preschool, St Maroun’s College—which is also undergoing redevelopment—and the Dulwich Hill Convent. 

Seniors housing has often been sidelined in government policy reforms in favour of the likes of affordable housing.

But that hasn’t stopped operators and developers investing in the sector, including a new 210-unit project planned for Oran Park, or the United Protestant Association’s $178-million revamp of its North Shore community.