Leura Residential Aged Care Camperdown
World-class, dementia-enabling design offering agency, community and nature connection.
| Location: | Eastern Maar Country, Camperdown, VIC 3260 |
| Status: | Complete |
| Awards: |
Victorian Architecture Awards 2026 - Regional Prize (Longlisted) The Urban Developer Awards for Industry Excellence 2026 - Development of the Year - Retirement, Aged Care and Seniors Living (Finalist) The Urban Developer Awards for Industry Excellence 2026 - Development of the Year - Social Infrastructure (Finalist) |
Leura Residential Aged Care in Camperdown embodies world’s best practice with a 36-bed small-household facility co-designed with residents for the Victorian Health Building Authority and South West Healthcare. Inclusive and dementia-friendly design, biophilic spaces offering uplifting nature connection, and gathering places including café, gym, salon, event space, activity spaces and seniors’ exercise park, work together to prioritise resident agency and wellbeing. With its home-like residential design and strong focus on community connection, Leura supports residents to remain active members of their regional town.
This contemporary addition to a historic hospital precinct is located on a hilltop site with residential street frontage, an existing heritage building, and views across Camperdown and the region’s beautiful landscape of mountains, valleys and volcanic crater lakes. Design was guided by the principles of connecting to Country and local context, enabling people with minimal support, and creating a home-like environment of private, semi-private and public spaces – all with clearly distinguishable identities to support intuitive wayfinding and enable inclusion.
Co-design with residents shaped scale and useability in key spaces such as bedroom suites, living rooms and meals areas. Residents tested early prototypes, furniture and furnishings, and selected artwork. They also named households and shaped the distinctive, complementary interior identity developed for each one using natural colour palettes and floral motifs drawn from the local ecology.
“Victorians deserve to age with dignity and respect – and this modern facility in Camperdown will do just that, empowering residents to stay close to their family and community.”
Ingrid Stitt
Minister for Ageing, Mental Health and Multicultural Affairs
"Everywhere you look there's a view. We've got more space, and lots more light too. The garden is beautiful. We love watching the birds, they come every morning. There's so many windows, we know where everyone is in the building. We wave to them as we walk along, and it's like a home away from home."
Josie
Leura Resident and Camperdown Local
