New dementia-friendly aged care rooms and Health & Fitness Centre open in Darwin

Southern Cross Care (SA, NT & VIC) Inc. will open the state-of-the-art $18 million expansion of its aged care services in Darwin on Wednesday, 10 December, 2025.

The expansion includes 26 additional residential aged care rooms as part of a new memory support unit at Pearl Supported Care in Fannie Bay, as well as a new age-friendly Health & Fitness Centre to support healthy Ageing, physical activity, and general well-being for older Territorians.

A commemorative plaque acknowledging the significant funding for the project contributed by the Australian and Northern Territory governments was unveiled at the opening event.

This project is transforming the delivery of aged care and healthy ageing services in Greater Darwin.

Southern Cross Care CEO David Moran said, “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.”

The design features include:

• Views of the external gardens from every corridor through large windows - helping residents with
  wayfinding as well as feeling calm and connected to nature
• The corridors and outdoor paths are circuits to avoid confusion for residents as they can follow the
  path back to where they began
• A ‘front porch’ entry for every room that creates a personalised space where residents can sit and
  look over the gardens, providing them with a sense of home
• The colours of each bedroom door vary and there are memory box displays by each door, to help
  residents find their room and see it as their own
• Calming natural style elements such as timber fretwork and earthy colours that match typical home
  designs in the tropics
• Open kitchenettes with a homely style
• Concealed entries to staff areas help residents feel they are at home and not a workplace

Wendy Howard many years ago worked with the Council of the Ageing, and even then, became aware of the great need for appropriately accessible accommodation, and the issues with availability and demand for those with dementia.

Wendy said she was impressed by the new wing and excited for her sister Diane, who is moving in. Both of them are loving the new space, especially the dementia-friendly design elements.

Wendy said, “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.”

“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’s easy to access for people in wheelchairs.

“The new wing is also freeing up more space for people in nursing homes - it’s just incredible the number of people that need nursing home care but can’t get in.”

The new wing at Pearl Supported Care also has a high standard of cyclone safety that will keep residents safe in the event of a weather system such as the recent Cyclone Fina.

Meanwhile, the new Health & Fitness Centre provides a specialised space for the Southern Cross Care team to use to deliver more high quality services for clients who live in their own homes. It has the potential to double the number of clients who can access these services and has already attracted more interest from the Pearl community because of the new space’s open look and feel.

Southern Cross Care CEO David Moran said, “Our Health & 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 in their physical activity goals and general wellness.

"The new facility is purpose-built for Southern Cross Care’s healthy ageing model, providing even better support than our previous centre to promote clients’ independence and quality of life.”

The project was constructed with significant financial assistance from the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing, and kind assistance from the Northern Territory Government with the provision of the land.

Southern Cross Care’s design and construction partners on the project included:

• Builder: Aspire Design & Construct
• Architect & Interior Design: Swanbury Penglase & Chelsea Miller Interior Design
• Services Engineer: Lucid Consulting
• Civil & Structural Engineer: WGA
• Project Manager: Turner & Townsend
• Landscape Architect: Clouston Associates
• Cost Management: Rider Levett Bucknall (RLB)