Pearl expansion brings new dementia friendly accommodation and a healthy ageing hub to Darwin

Southern Cross Care (SA, NT & VIC) has completed an $18 million expansion of its Pearl aged care service in Fannie Bay, Darwin. The development delivers 26 new dementia friendly aged care rooms and a dedicated Health and Fitness Centre designed to delay frailty and reduce avoidable hospital admissions.

The expansion was officially opened on 10 December by Federal Member for Solomon Luke Gosling OAM, with a blessing from the Catholic Bishop of Darwin and remarks from Southern Cross Care CEO David Moran.

Moran said the investment responds to a clear and growing need for high quality, dementia capable accommodation in the Top End. “The new memory support unit at Pearl Supported Care is so important. It increases our capacity to care for older Territorians by 30%, incorporating a dementia friendly design that will help residents to feel at home and enjoy a good quality of life.”

Design that supports autonomy

The new wing applies contemporary dementia design principles that reduce confusion, increase familiarity and support independence. Features include:

• Garden outlooks from every corridor
• Circuit pathways indoors and outdoors to reduce disorientation
• A personalised front porch entry for each room
• Colour-coded doors and memory boxes to aid wayfinding
• Natural tones and tropical design references
• Homely kitchenettes and concealed staff areas that shift the environment away from an institutional feel

For families, the difference is already noticeable. Wendy Howard, whose sister Diane will be moving into the new wing, said she was struck by the attention to detail.

“Everything about it is well designed, the aisles, the windows, the places where people can sit and look out on the gardens. Residents can walk and walk and walk and not get lost,” she said.

“The bedrooms and dining rooms have a lovely set up. There are plenty of shaded areas outside where people can enjoy the garden in the heat and the weather, and it is easy to access for people in wheelchairs.”

Howard noted the broader impact on the region’s tight supply of residential aged care. “The new wing is also freeing up more space for people in nursing homes, it is just incredible the number of people that need nursing home care but cannot get in.”

The building has also been engineered to a high cyclone safety standard to protect residents during severe weather events.

A healthy ageing centre built for prevention

Alongside the new accommodation, Southern Cross Care has opened a purpose-built Health and Fitness Centre that doubles its capacity to support older Territorians who are ageing in place.

Moran said the service is already operating at pace. “Our Health and Fitness Team has wasted no time and is already running services from the new centre, including four group sessions a day that support older Territorians to build strength, improve balance and improve their health. This will keep more people out of the hospital system and residential aged care for longer.”

The centre is designed around Southern Cross Care’s healthy ageing model, bringing fitness, reablement and preventative care into one accessible hub on the Pearl site. The open layout has also driven new interest from residents and the wider community.

A project shaped by cross-sector collaboration

The expansion was supported by funding from both the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and the Northern Territory Government. Architecture, construction and engineering partners included Aspire Design & Construct, Swanbury Penglase, Lucid Consulting, WGA, Turner & Townsend and others.

For Darwin, the project signals a meaningful step towards lifting capacity, improving design standards and expanding access to reablement focused services.