Cosy, Comfortable Environments
March is the start of autumn and this year we celebrate Easter in March. One of the symbols of autumn is comfort and therefore a time to create serene and snug spaces and environments that keep you safe and warm. Of course what could be better than sitting in a cosy snug chair enjoying the symbol for Easter, Chocolate!!
Now is an excellent time to start looking at your current interiors and think about what you can introduce and enhance within your spaces to create a comfortable environment for your residents. Do your lounge areas need a refresh? Do they feel snug and inviting? What can you introduce to make it a space where you want to spend time?
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DFD in the running for APAC Eldercare Innovation Award!
The Xmas decorations have only just been packed away and we are already seeing the Easter bunnies on the shelves! I cannot believe that February is almost over and it will soon be Easter.
Wow what a start it has been to 2018. We are absolutely thrilled to announce that we have been shortlisted as one of the finalists for the 6th Asia Pacific Eldercare Innovation Awards 2018 to be held in Singapore in the category of Best Silver Interior Design for our work at the Amaroo Buckley Caring Centre, Gosnells. Congratulations to all my team who continually excel and deliver over and above for all of our clients. Gary Batt Architects have also been shortlisted in the Best Silver Architecture category.
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Moving with the times
Happy New Year from all the team!! We hope everyone had a great holiday and Santa was kind to you all.
As we embark into 2018 we reflect on a saying by T.S. Elliot “For last year’s words belong to last year’s language and next year’s words await another voice”. How relevant is that in our industry? Resident cohorts and expectations are changing and the product we deliver needs to move with the times.
As a company we are constantly scouring not only Australia but the world for the latest products, technologies and advancements suitable for our industry.
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A look at 2017
2017 has been an incredible year for us all here at de Fiddes Design and whilst it has gone so fast (they say time flies when you are having fun) we have certainly packed a lot in to the year.
Christmas as we all know is celebrated on the 25th December every year. It is a religious festival celebrating the birth of Jesus Christ and traditionally is characterised by beautifully decorated Xmas trees, mince pies, presents and a turkey dinner. It is hopefully a time for families to come together, eat, drink and be merry. Quite often it is a time for reflection. This year I asked all the team to reflect on the year and to let me know of anything I could add into the news section for our final newsletter for 2017.
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A Time for Reflection
Taking a break from the “work” of your work is so important as it helps all the team get a fresh perspective on what we are doing and why we are doing it! Sitting in the same chair, in the same office can keep us from fresh thinking and news ideas, so we packed our bags and headed off to Bali for 4 days.
Whilst we have mini conferences yearly, every 3 years we plan a major company conference and it was important that we immersed ourselves in our senses.
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Philosophy of Design
This month I delivered a talk at the Alzheimer’s WA Symposium called “Not one size fits all. How do we create Meaningful Environments? ” Design, like the industry, is changing. Designing environments that are too sterile, too structured and not real just doesn’t work.
Sensory Design is proclaimed as the new “Philosophy of Design” but it goes so much further than just sensory rooms. If you would like any further information please feel free to contact me and we can catch up for a coffee and a chat.
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Good Design = Good Results. Enter Wintringham
On a recent visit to Melbourne I had the pleasure of meeting Bryan Lipmann, CEO of Wintringham Specialist Aged Care. This not for profit welfare organisation cares for older people who are homeless or vulnerable to homelessness.
Bryan and Ross, former board chairman showed us through their Port Melbourne Hostel. The location is fantastic but what is even more impressive is the actual facility itself.
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Meet Marnie
De Fiddes Design is thrilled to take on a new design intern, Marnie Cooper. Marnie is one interesting lady with a long list of achievements and career moves. As Marnie ventures into the world of Interior Design, she reached out to DFD to gain invaluable experience and imperative insight into designing for aged care, dementia design and retirement living.
We sat down with Marnie this week to reflect on her time here at DFD.
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Fabulous Art + Evidence Based Design
August has been an exciting month.
The girls in the design department have been busy finalising a number of projects this month and they always come back to the office with some wonderful stories. For example, Keith is a resident at the Buckley Care Centre and he moved into his new home recently surrounded by all of his artwork. Keith is an avid painter who only started painting 2 years ago. I believe he finishes a painting every day and Amaroo have placed an easel in the front foyer of the facility showcasing his ever changing art. His pieces are remarkable and he is a great model of “It’s never too late.”
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Think Brick Awards 2017
Congratulations to Gary Batt from Gary Batt Associates Architects for being nominated for the Robin Dods Roof Tile Excellence Award for Amaroo Buckley Caring Centre in Gosnells, Perth.
The Robin Dobs Award believes in sustainable design to suit the climate especially in roofing, inspiring creativity and innovation in architectural designs using roof tiles.
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The Namaste Approach
Did you know that a large number of aged care residents have minimal interaction with others throughout the day, some as little as two minutes daily!
With this in mind we were very interested in attending this week ‘The Power of Touch’ by Miranda Stacpoole a nursing consultant, senior lecturer at St Christopher’s Hospice London and primary author of the Namaste Care Program.
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Shift Perceptions + Shape the Future
This month I delivered a talk at the Social Impact Festival called “Maintaining Community within a Dementia Facility”. My session also included two other fantastic speakers, Michelle Harris Allsopon “Building Dementia Friendly Communities” and Anne Nilsen on “The Concept of German Multigenerational Houses”. The festival is called Shift Perceptions. Shape the Future and runs from 18-28 July 2017 at UWA. The program is full of really interesting sessions.
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Adventures in June
I can’t believe that we are half way through the year already, time flies when you are having fun! The first half of the year has been a very busy time for all the team and none more so than June.
Erin, Kathryn and Anna visited Denfair in Melbourne to explore all the latest exciting interior design products as well as having the opportunity to listen to a variety of interesting speakers on subjects such as technology and designing for the senses. One of the most interesting was “Value vs Trends" which discussed the challenge of authentic design. What is the true cost of authentic design and how can good design be accessible to all?
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Seniors Home Brings Young and Old Together
I would like to share with you a story from West Seattle, where there is an Intergenerational Learning Centre called “The Mount”.
The Mount is a licensed non-profit child-care centre and preschool established on the Mount’s premises in 1991. The program was designed to counterbalance the loneliness and boredom that we know is an issue in aged care facilities..
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ABC and now the BBC
Last month Debbie featured on the ABC news talking about the importance of technology in aged care highlighting both the virtual reality goggles and the interactive technology.
This area of design is gaining interest worldwide and we were contacted by the BBC to air the story in the UK.
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deFiddes Design on ABC News Sunday!
Last night on ABC News Sunday was our very own CEO, Deb de Fiddes, who says, "Showing the virtual reality goggles to dementia residents at SwanCare Kingia was an amazing experience for the residents, staff and especially for me. It created some great conversations and the expressions on their faces makes what we do all worthwhile".
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Review: Technology is the way of the future
I think we are all familiar with robots and the many articles talking about technology playing a major role in the aged care industry moving forward.
In our last newsletter, we talked about the virtual reality goggles. This week we gave the residents at Swan Care’s dementia area an opportunity to try the Goggles. The reaction from the residents was absolutely incredible. We were filmed by the ABC and it will be viewed on the news Sunday night 7pm if you get a chance to see it.
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The Competitive Edge + Good Design = Good Results
This coming month is a very busy month at de Fiddes Design with finishing a number of exciting projects and travelling overseas to conferences and meetings. Debbie is off to Las Vegas this week to speak at the Environments for Aging Conference and mid-March, Debbie and Erin are travelling to China with our Hong Kong client to look at new products. We look forward to hearing some interesting stories!
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What a busy year 2016 has been for all the team!
Debbie has attended and presented at a number of industry conferences in Australia and internationally, had a study tour through the Netherlands, England and Scotland, had several articles published in journals and magazines, researched and presented to client groups on trends in aged care and retirement and to top off her year Debbie decided to tie the knot and was married in November.
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