The original St. Joseph’s Home (STJH), built in 1978, was a single-storey building with 139 beds, set amidst a central garden courtyard, with the red-brick Chapel building as the central focus. The redeveloped six-storey nursing home that now caters for over 400 beds, is equipped with assisted living, hospice, aged care, and dementia facilities.

SAA challenged standard ward arrangements to create “cluster and family” systems formed by smaller groups of residents and staff with portable nurse stations, providing the right scale for a home-like environment. Each cluster consists of 32 beds and shares smaller dining and social areas, allowing stronger communities to form, resulting in better monitoring and management of illnesses.

The original “ground-level garden environment” was recreated at every level by providing wide, unobstructed corridors filled with greenery around the periphery. allowing caregivers to wheel bedridden residents around in their beds to enjoy the greenery. The gardens provide a “home-in-a-garden” environment that is conducive for rest and healing while allowing staff to immerse in nature to recharge.

Our design positions the existing chapel – the spiritual heart of the home – at the development’s centre. All communal pockets within the development are designed with vistas towards the chapel, establishing it as a beacon for the home. The new development’s facade – the terracotta screens – also creates a material connection to the chapel, which is clad in a similar tone of red brick.

STJH is also the first nursing home in Singapore to have an integrated Childcare Centre and Intergenerational Playground. It provides daily opportunities for children and residents to interact, imbuing a sense of compassion and empathy in the children, while benefitting the emotional well-being of residents by providing much-needed human touch.