Trends New Zealand NZ New Home Trends Vol. 30/4 | Page 108

Suite dreams
With its designer decor, high-end materials and wealth of amenities,
Eden Village is more like a hotel than a retirement village,
which is just as it should be, says the team at Yellowfox
Preceding pages and above: Eden
Village is a new type of retirement
village – one where an emphasis is
on a luxurious lifestyle. The village
offers 40 contemporary one- and
two-bedroom apartments. It also
provides 67 Care Suites, for residents
who require rest home care or agerelated hospital care. Each apartment
and suite is modelled on a luxury
hotel suite. Communal areas include
a club lounge, hair salon, dining
room, bar and café.

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The brief for the designers working on this
retirement village was a little unexpected – they
were asked to research five-star hotel interiors.
Yellowfox, who worked in conjunction with
Babbage Architects, the design architects for
the project, says the developer of Eden Village,
Oceania Group, saw a gap in the market for
empty-nesters moving out of the family home.
Designer Vikki Gorton says it is clear the
new generation of retirees is looking to downsize, but not downgrade.
“Lifestyle is of the utmost importance,
and this village needed to provide the kind of

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luxury and amenities you would see in a fivestar hotel.”
Gorton says the attention to detail had to
encompass the public areas, and extend right
through to the apartments and Care Suites.
“As well as designing the look and feel of
these areas, we also had to address the present
and future needs of the residents.”
Using the exterior colour and material
palettes as a starting point, Yellowfox introduced a range of warm neutrals, with textural
surfaces adding visual interest to key public
areas. These include Bestwood wood veneers,