16/10/2026
Modbury Hospital | Older Persons Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit (South Wing)
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Wiltshire Swain in collaboration with GHD Design are proud to have delivered the new Older Persons Mental Health Rehabilitation Unit at Modbury Hospital, as part of the hospital’s $117 million expansion - one of the most significant upgrades in the hospital’s 51-year history.
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Designed specifically for people aged 65 and over, the 20-bed unit provides a therapeutic environment that responds to the particular needs of older persons experiencing mental health challenges. The brief called for a space that felt genuinely residential rather than clinical, with flexible patient pods tailored to different dependency needs, sensory rooms, family visiting areas and generous communal spaces that open to landscaped courtyards.
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Wiltshire Swain’s scope led the health facility planning, clinical compliance and interior design for the unit, with our particular expertise applied across the mental health, aged care, dementia and anti-ligature overlay requirements. Balancing these complex and often intersecting compliance demands while maintaining a warm, domestic quality throughout the built environment is a challenge, and one we are proud to have successfully achieved.
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Throughout the unit, warm timber joinery, soft curves and considered materiality work together to reduce the institutional quality often associated with mental health facilities. Each patient bedroom features its own ensuite, dedicated study and lounge area, and direct outlook to planted gardens, details that support dignity, independence and connection to the outside world during what can be a difficult period.
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Project Team: GHD Design | Aurecon | Rider Levett Bucknall NZ | Built Environs
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Photography by David Sievers
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