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Estia Health Aberglasslyn

Aged Care and Healthcare Landscaping

A therapeutic, low-maintenance landscape built with precision, accessibility and seamless coordination across a complex construction site.

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Creating Calm, Functional Outdoor Spaces for Aged Care Living

Estia Health Aberglasslyn required a landscape that supported healthy ageing, everyday enjoyment and long-term durability. Working within a new high care nursing home development, the landscape design by Architects Taylor Brammer centred around five internal courtyards. Each one needed to be delivered to exacting specifications to ensure every resident had a garden outlook that was both restorative and accessible.

Looking Up Landscapes was engaged to implement the full landscape design, coordinating with the builder and multiple trades to deliver a compliant, refined and low-maintenance outdoor environment. This scope also included the external landscaping works, encompassing the car park, entryway and surrounding gardens, to ensure a cohesive and welcoming environment from arrival through to resident spaces.

Project Overview

The Brief
To construct and install the complete landscape design as specified by Architects Taylor Brammer, for a newly built high-care nursing home. This included detailed implementation across five internal courtyard spaces, rooftop gardens and elevated window box planters, along with all structural, horticultural and accessibility requirements.
Supporting Healthy Ageing
Although the design was supplied, it was intentionally crafted for therapeutic benefit. The planting schedule included:
  • Familiar species suited to the resident demographic
  • Sensory plantings with scent, colour and texture
  • Resident-led garden beds for engagemen
  • Water features and tactile installations
  • Full accessibility through carefully managed levels and pathways
Site and Compliance Requirements
The project demanded strict adherence to accessibility standards, surface tolerances and construction sequencing. Key challenges included:
  • No external access to the internal courtyards
  • All materials and machinery craned in and out
  • Light materials transported manually through finished internal areas
  • Elevated window boxes requiring EWP access
  • Rooftop garden access requiring controlled internal movement and EWP use
  • Precision levels for accessibility across porous deco granite pathways

Design and Collaboration

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Working with the Build Team

We collaborated closely with:

  • The Project Site Foreman
  • The Landscape Architect
  • Carpenters, plumbers, electricians and painters working in parallel
  • A specialist horticulturalist who supported accurate plant installation
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Accessibility for Mobility-Impaired Residents

With no residents on site during construction, the focus was on building long-term accessibility into the landscape. This included:

  • Millimetre-accurate pavement and doorway levels
  • Smooth transitions between decks, paths and internal thresholds
  • Planting and garden bed heights designed for comfort and visibility
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Therapeutic Planting and Materials

The design included:

  • Sensory and tactile plant species
  • Textured surfaces and visual contrasts
  • Water features for calming movement and sound
  • Raised garden beds and a purpose-built sensory wall

Construction and Challenges

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Collaborative and coordinated

  • Strict deadlines tied to the completion of other trades
  • Access limitations across internal courtyards and elevated garden areas
  • Complex technical requirements including a large stormwater rain garden
  • Use of stabilised deco granite with a water dispersant agent for permeability
  • Detailed site coordination across multiple trades within a live construction program
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Project Management Approach

  • Planned all logistics and sequencing prior to commencement
  • Coordinated subcontractors and trade dependencies
  • Oversaw daily site progress and preemptive issue resolution
  • Maintained a clear invoicing schedule for transparency
This ensured the landscape works remained on track despite significant access and sequencing constraints.
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A Safe and Respectful Build

Although there were no residents onsite during construction, our team maintained the same professional standards expected in an aged care environment. Project Management commended the team for their willingness to problem-solve, adapt and coordinate respectfully across trades.

Speak to the Team

If you are managing an aged care, healthcare or retirement living project and need a landscape team that understands compliance, coordination and care, we would love to support you.

Looking Up Landscapes combines professionalism, precision and a collaborative approach that keeps even complex sites running smoothly.

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