The Terraces is a new $180 million over 55s community developed by Presbyterian Aged Care (PAC) in Paddington, Sydney. Located at the former Scottish Hospital site on Brown Street in Paddington, The Terraces is the single biggest project ever embarked on by PAC in New South Wales.

Spread over 1.5 hectares, The Terraces was recently completed by global construction company Multiplex, which was associated with PAC in a development advisory capacity and as their construction delivery partner.

Multiplex regional managing director David Ghannoum says, “We are delighted with the end result and are looking forward to seeing this new community continue to flourish.”

Designed by Cottee Parker JPR Architects, The Terraces comprises of a 100-bed residential aged care facility including a 23-bed dementia unit; 70 over 55s independent living units across four buildings; and the adaptive conversion of the Scottish Hospital heritage building into nine independent living units.

New community facilities include a café, hair and beauty salon, cinema, community and function rooms, swimming pool and gym. The seniors facility has also dedicated 1,366 square metres of land to the Woollahra Council as part of the development to expand the public park on the northern boundary of the site known as Dillon St Reserve.

Presbyterian Aged Care CEO Paul Sadler added: “This is the culmination of a twenty-year journey for PAC and the Presbyterian Church. The Terraces is already coming alive as a vibrant community for seniors in the Eastern Suburbs. And people from across Australia and internationally are visiting to see an iconic inner city aged care development.”

Multiplex carried out the construction in stages to enable the existing aged care facility to remain operational until all residents could be moved into the new part of the development. The project had its share of challenges with Multiplex having to work around restricted access to the site from the surrounding residential streets, as well as the landscape topography with the complex built into the side of a steeply sloping hill.

Multiplex also worked with an arborist to retain six heritage trees including a multi-trunked weeping lilly pilly on site.