A purposebuilt research facility in Melbourne's south-east has opened with a brief to change how older Australians and people with disability prepare for life at home — using clinical-grade assistive technology in an environment designed to look and feel like an ordinary house.

The Independent Living Laboratory and Mobility Garden, developed by the National Centre for Healthy Ageing (NCHA) — a partnership between Bayside Health Peninsula and Monash University — forms part of a cluster of six simulation and research facilities serving the Frankston and Mornington Peninsula region. While the exterior reads as a conventional residential dwelling, the interior is equipped with life-sized rehabilitation robotics, AI-enabled glasses to support people with memory impairments, and sensor systems capable of detecting falls or identifying behavioural changes that may signal the need for clinical intervention.

The laboratory allows people to trial assistive technology and engage with accessible housing design in practice, alongside clinicians, researchers, and disability and aged care providers. The aim is straightforward: to close the gap between policy and lived experience by letting people test real environments before making decisions that affect their everyday lives.

Architecture, technology and health research converging

Professor Mel Dodd, Dean of the Monash Faculty of Art, Design and Architecture, says the project represents a meaningful convergence of disciplines rarely brought together at this scale.

"This project shows how architecture, technology and health research can come together to create co-designed environments that genuinely support independence and quality of life as people age," says Dodd. "To support healthy ageing, we have to look beyond just clinical care and start looking at the lived experience of the home."

Dodd adds that the facility functions as a testbed for how physical layouts and digital tools interact with human behaviour in real time. "We've created a modular environment where Monash researchers and health practitioners can rigorously test how physical layouts and digital tools interact with human behaviour in real-time."

Closing the knowledge gap for people with disability and older Australians

Associate Professor Libby Callaway, from the Monash School of Primary and Allied Health Care, notes that major reforms in both disability and aged care have shifted the emphasis toward home-based living — but that many people don't know where to start when navigating those systems.

"There have been major reforms in both disability and aged care to support people to live at home rather than in institutional settings like group homes or aged care, but many people don't know where to start," says Callaway. "The Independent Living Laboratory helps close that knowledge gap by letting people try, test and learn in a realistic home environment before making decisions that affect their everyday lives."

The facility is one of six research simulation environments developed under the NCHA's broader programme in Frankston and Mornington Peninsula, which also includes an Intergenerational Playground, Ageing Well Clinics, a Smart Ward focused on hospital patient care, a Multipurpose Research Facility for physical rehabilitation, and a Digital Library for healthcare communication.

National replication potential

Professor Velandai Srikanth, Director of the NCHA, Director of Research at Bayside Health Peninsula, and Professor of Medicine at Monash's Peninsula Clinical School, says the programme has potential well beyond Victoria.

"We are excited about the transformative impact these facilities will have in generating evidence to inform government, industry, education, technology and service sectors," says Srikanth. "With industry and government partnerships, this approach could be replicated in more communities across Australia, unlocking even greater national impact."

The NCHA holds foundational investment from the Commonwealth Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing. Establishment of the Independent Living Laboratory was supported by Building 4.0 CRC, Fleetwood Australia, Frankston City Council, St Kilda Football Club, Belvedere Community Centre and Wallara.

Main image: Elderly couple engaging with home technology / Vitaly Gariev / Unsplash

Architecture & Design Team

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