MAIB Supported Accommodation Renewal

Redefining disability housing through co-design and digital innovation

As residents spend considerable time within their homes, bedrooms and living rooms overlook gardens.

Shared spaces for all residents, including a library and rehabilitation area, are located within the large Primary Living Units.

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Balancing privacy, safety, wellbeing and dignity

Jasmax, with Core Collective Architects and SBLA Studio have partnered with the Motor Accidents Insurance Board (MAIB) to redevelop their supported accommodation facilities across Lutruwita (Tasmania) for people with accident-acquired spinal and brain injuries. Jasmax is leading a Trans-Tasman consultant team to transform four sites in Hobart, Ulverstone and Launceston, creating specialist residential accommodation for up to 40 people with varied and complex needs who require long-term and transitional housing. Existing converted housing will be replaced with new buildings, reflecting the need for purpose-built accommodation.

To answer the MAIB’s aspirational brief, the project team applied a human-centric approach that meets and exceeds the Specialist Disability Accommodation (SDA) Design Standard through a rigorously tested design model, establishing a quality benchmark for future development sites. The independent and shared living environments are designed to promote dignity, wellbeing, privacy and safety for both residents and MAIB support teams.

Automobile-related injuries vary significantly. Some residents can live more independently in purpose-designed units, while others require greater access to support, with studio accommodation in shared environments. Confidential briefings with MAIB clients and their families highlighted the need to accommodate a wide range of scenarios. To test design options quickly and affordably, the team adopted a cost-effective digital-first approach using advanced visualisation technology. Each design option was tested for users with varying levels of mobility and impairment, aligning with universal design principles: equitable, flexible, intuitive, safe, and user-friendly.

Designing for real life: flexible, empathetic and futureproofed

MAIB recognised the importance of making the right decisions from the outset, leading to a six-month co-design and evidence-based research process grounded in the lived experiences of residents, their families and support staff. The design team includes Dr Ceridwen Owen, Associate Professor in Architecture and Design at the University of Tasmania (and co-founder of Core Collective Architects), whose expertise in disability, neurodiversity and trauma-informed design has been instrumental.

To protect privacy while capturing residents’ perspectives, the design team created seven personas representing the diverse characteristics of current and future residents. These personas were used in workshops to roleplay ‘a day in the life’, helping the team design with empathy and foresight.

At just 10 – 15% of the cost of physical prototyping, full-scale floor plan projections also enabled real-time scenario testing. Daily routines could be simulated and floor layouts quickly adapted as issues emerged. Additional rapid design iteration tools – including augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR), and 3D printing enabled MAIB teams to experience the design in three dimensions.

For people who can’t interact with their environment, their environment needs to interact with them

— An insight shared by a lived-experience stakeholder, which became a guiding principle for the design response

Digital prototype tools enabled real-time scenario testing and rapid design iteration - 1:1 projection

Digital prototype tools enabled real-time scenario testing and rapid design iteration - augmented reality (AR)

Digital prototype tools enabled real-time scenario testing and rapid design iteration - 3D printing

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The Ulverstone site - one of four being developed across Lutruwita (Tasmania).

The Launceston site - one of four being developed across Lutruwita (Tasmania).

One of four sites being developed across Lutruwita (Tasmania). Pictured is one of the two Hobart sites.

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Achieving value for money throughout an exploratory design process

With the ambitious goal of designing specialist facilities from first principles, balancing the complicated needs of residents while understanding the impact of design decisions on cost was critical to success. MAIB appointed experienced business case advisors, Cushman and Wakefield, and cost consultants, Slattery, to work alongside the design team from the outset, with fortnightly cost collaboration meetings. Their advice has been instrumental in refining the design as it evolves, and ensuring it can be delivered effectively in different locations.

The result is a cost-effective, flexible, repeatable ‘kit of parts’ design solution, evolved to support the needs of MAIB. Use of standardised spatial arrangements and modular building typologies will improve procurement, buildability, reduce construction timeframes and result in an economic development solution that captures the necessary innovation to support residents’ autonomy and dignity.

There are two building typologies used on each site – Independent Living Units (ILUs) are situated alongside a large Primary Living Unit (PLU). The 1‑bedroom and 2‑bedroom ILUs provide temporary accommodation for residents transitioning from hospital care back to home. PLU’s offer permanent accommodation for those requiring access to care around-the-clock with a mix of private studios and shared spaces that can be more closely managed by the MAIB staff.

MAIB also aims to procure 80% of design and delivery within Tasmania, supporting the local economy and building regional skills and capacity.

Functional features include:

Private living spaces for all residents and their visiting families
Therapy spaces for rehabilitation support
Multi-purpose areas for community and resident use
Dedicated staff facilities
Sheltered outdoor areas and gardens for all units

Design principles to enhance wellbeing include:

Connection to nature through a biophilic design
Access to natural light, sunrise and sunset views
A balance between privacy and community
Support for independence, choice and control
A homely, non-institutional feel
Flexibility, simplicity, clarity and efficiency in design

Jasmax acknowledges the Palawa People of Lutruwita as Traditional Custodians of the Country upon which MAIB’s facilities are located.

MAIB Units CAM018 v1 20251017 copy cropped

The Motor Accidents Insurance Board supported accommodation facilities aim to blend into the surrounding neighbourhood with a residential, non-institutional character.