Designs unveiled for NSW-first residential housing for mental health recovery

In NSW, Australia, the Pathways to Community Living Initiative will provide up to 60 new supported accommodation places across six purpose-built residences in Greater Sydney and the Hunter. The program supports people with complex and long-term mental health needs to transition from long-stay hospital care into safe, supported community living.

The project called for a sustainability approach shaped by the specific needs of small, secure residential health environments. Each site presented different conditions, from orientation and climate exposure to landscape setting and operational requirements for 24/7 support.

Atelier Ten led sustainability strategy and environmental design input across the six-site program, working closely with Health Infrastructure NSW and the broader consultant team. Our role was to turn high-level requirements into practical design and delivery measures that could be costed and evidenced through design, procurement and construction. The challenge was to establish a consistent framework that could meet Health Infrastructure NSW’s sustainability expectations across the program, while still allowing each residence to respond to its site and future residents.

The methodology brought together environmental design, energy analysis, carbon strategy and healthy buildings thinking. Early workshops helped define the sustainability vision and align the project team around Health Infrastructure’s Simplified Sustainability Checklist. This gave the team a practical structure for distinguishing business-as-usual requirements from additional initiatives, assigning responsibilities and maintaining a clear evidence trail through the design process.

Across the program, the sustainability strategy supported all-electric buildings, rooftop solar PV, passive design, rainwater reuse, low-VOC materials, efficient building services and water-sensitive landscapes. Atelier Ten also developed a pathway for design-stage embodied carbon assessment, identifying key material hotspots and procurement priorities for products with verified carbon data.

Façade and building fabric analysis helped the team balance energy performance with the quality of the internal environment. Rather than treating compliance, comfort and daylight as separate issues, Atelier Ten tested how façade decisions would affect overheating, thermal comfort, daylight and energy use. This helped inform practical decisions about passive design while supporting calm, light-filled interiors suited to supported residential care.

Using the Health Infrastructure Climate Risk Assessment Tool, Atelier Ten assessed future climate conditions and identified adaptation measures for heat, bushfire smoke, extreme rainfall, drought and storms. These measures informed responses such as shading, landscape cooling, water-sensitive design, roof and drainage resilience, air filtration, backup power strategies and planting suited to changing climate conditions.

The sustainability strategy also responded to Connecting with Country principles developed by Bangawarra, recognising the relationship between Country, wellbeing, ecology and long-term care for place.

Across the program, Atelier Ten’s contribution was to make sustainability tangible, practical and relevant to the everyday experience of residents and staff. The result is a clear framework for low-impact, resilient residences that support comfort, recovery and long-term operational performance.

Key collaborators: Kennedy Associates Architects | TERROIR | Realm Studios | Lineaire Projects | Bangawarra.