Grand opening of The Banksia apartments
BESIX Watpac celebrated the official opening of The Banksia Apartments in Port Macquarie on 29 September.
Celebrating the official opening of The Banksia Apartments in Port Macquarie on 29 September.
BESIX Watpac's award-winning team was joined by residents, dignitaries and the Garden Village community on 29 September for the grand opening of The Banksia Garden Village, a contemporary retirement living complex in Port Macquarie.
The event was a wonderful opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate a new era at Garden Village. Garden Village Resident Phyllis Goodwin, BESIX Watpac Site Manager Jack Walton and Garden Village Retirement Living Manager Sarah Ogilvie together snipped the ceremonial ribbon to officially open the new independent living apartments.
Guests included Member for Cowper Pat Conaghan MP, Member for Lyne The Hon David Gillespie MP, Member for Port Macquarie Leslie Williams MP and Port Macquarie-Hastings Mayor Peta Pinson.
Garden Village acknowledged the $5.2 million towards the development from the federal government's Building Better Regions Fund.
“The Banksia is a stunning contemporary retirement living environment that enables residents ongoing independence and the ability for services to be delivered directly to them helping them live their best life,” said Craig Wearne CEO Andrew Walmsley, Chair of Garden Village thanked the Garden Village residents.
“The most important people here today are our residents. Your support was vital for The Banksia to proceed, we are indebted to you especially to our residents that lived on the site where the building is. It was their home and they gave it up for this project to proceed. We really want to thank you for that.”
“I am truly proud of what our project team has achieved in the past 18 months and the close working relationship we have with Garden Village and our subcontractors. The Banksia project achieved 7.8% Indigenous participation during the build and the majority of contractors for this build were local, helping employment, growth and opportunities on the Mid North Coast of NSW.”
Amos Frankel, BESIX Watpac NSW Northern Region Branch Manager
“Not only do these partnerships afford us the chance to once again to deliver world-leading ageing in place environments, but gives us the chance to deliver on our values and hold ourselves accountable for excellence,” added Mr Frankel.
Highlights of the build include a large central skylight allowing natural light into the centre of the building, high quality finishes in the apartments, generous and well-designed common areas, treatment rooms and an outdoor courtyard.
The Banksia is completely energy self-sufficient, with a 99kw Solar System installed consisting of 270 panels installed on the roof and a 303kw/h battery power storage system.
The thirty five new Banksia Apartments increases independent living occupancy at Garden Village which already has fifty two contemporary Cascades Apartments and 167 comfortable Classic Units. The new Wellbeing Centre and Cyber Hub is accessible for all and supports a whole of person approach to wellness.
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