Restvale’s board of directors has chosen Harrold & Kite Pty Ltd as the builder for the final stage of the long-planned modification and improvement of the facility. On 7 July 2025, the contract was signed by Sam Harrold of H&K and Restvale’s board chairperson, Jim Hennessy. Work will start immediately.
The program commenced with Stage 1 – the addition of two additional rooms – was completed in early 2023. This final stage addresses some difficult structural outcomes which are a result of several additions to the original hospital building over the years. It means that the very centre of the facility will have to be demolished and then rebuilt to make the facility compliant with current building codes.
Along with this, the facades of the building will be modernised whilst maintaining the beauty of its heritage stonework. An expanded, more welcoming entrance and foyer will be created. Externally a new sun deck will be integrated with the refreshed activity room which itself will have new double-glazed windows installed all around. Original stonework in the activity room will be exposed and featured. At the completion of the project a hairdressing studio will established adjacent to the activity room.
The dining areas will be upgraded, and a small coffee lounge will be provided in the smaller dining area. A newly laid out and upgraded kitchen is part of the project, along with the creation of a new interview/consulting room.
Restvale commissioned an interior design consultant, Chelsea Miller, prior to Stage 1 and the palette of colours and finishes established for that have been carried through and augmented for the project’s conclusion.
The building works will take about fifteen months to complete and during much of this time three rooms will be taken out of service. Keeping the facility running continuously involves following a meticulously planned sequence of events and temporary configurations. These include the moving of the entrance to the northern side of the building, the installation of a transportable temporary kitchen facility, the early creation of a temporary corridor around the major construction area, the temporary relocation of the nurse station and installation of various infection control barriers to separate the operational side from the construction side.
Residents and their families have been made aware of the project for some time now and they will regularly, and on an as-required basis, be advised of what will be happening as the build progresses.
Our architects, ICE’s Simon Grist and Grant Lucas, have spent years of engagement on this project and we appreciate the thoroughness and understanding they have demonstrated throughout the process.
Restvale gratefully acknowledges the assistance provided by the federal government’s Department of Health and Aged Care’s Rural, Regional and Other Special Needs Building Fund. Of the approximately $6.5 million total project cost, the fund’s contribution will amount to $2,261,427.
The board is excited that it is all going ahead now and looks forward to when it can celebrate the finalisation of the project which has been so long in its making.
10 July 2025