New care suites for Sevenoaks
Construction on 14 units expected to start early next year The planning behind the building of the Totara wing has taken the best part of two years.
It’s back to the future for the Kāpiti Retirement Trust. A recent blessing of the building site by kaumātua Koro Don Te Maipi and trust chaplain Rev Maureen Ellis and turf turning by trust deputy chairwoman Jenny Rowan set the scene for the building of 14 care suites at Sevenoaks.
When the trust was first formed by the Kāpiti community in the 1950s, it started with the building of Marire Rest Home, the first purpose-built aged care facility in Kāpiti.
With the development of the Sevenoaks’ site over subsequent decades, Marire Rest Home didn’t meet the changed code for care facilities and closed in the early 1990s with the last Marire residents transferring to the trust’s aged care hospital, the
Lodge, located at Sevenoaks.
The building of these care suites will once again enable the trust to provide rest home-level care which can transition to hospital-level care if needed; however in a setting far superior to a standard room in an aged care facility.
Once complete, the new Totara wing will see the trust provide the widest range of aged care services in any one facility in the district.
In addition to the new wing, the trust will continue to operate its standard hospital rooms in the Lodge, along with its dedicated secure dementia wing Kauri House and the
Matai wing which provides both block respite care and end-of-life palliative care to the Kāpiti community.
Add to this the Nikau Club, the trust’s dedicated day respite centre, and the continuum of aged care services is complete.
Trust chief executive Wendy Huston said, “The planning behind the building of the Totara wing has taken the best part of two years; all happening while dealing with Covid19 and all that has brought.
“Each care suite will have a separate bedroom, full bathroom, kitchenette and lounge.
“The collaboration with Wellington-based architects Wright and Grey has been extensive, with the brief ensuring the new build will integrate well within the existing Sevenoaks environment.
Crowe Construction will be the contractors and after their success in building the Māhara Gallery, Huston was confident of a “quality, fit-forpurpose build”.
Construction is set to start in midJanuary and completed early in 2025.
Wendy Huston