Luxury accommodation in Australia’s fashion capital, considering the needs of all people
Adjacent to Chadstone Shopping Centre, a new 5 star hotel opened in Melbourne’s South East in November 2019. The facilities of the 12-storey hotel include 250 rooms and suites, dining, conference and meeting facilities, swimming pool, wellness centre and rooftop bar. The hotel will cater to the 24 million people, including 450,000 international guests, who visit Chadstone each year.
Architecture & Access was engaged by Vicinity Centres and worked with construction company Hickory to ensure people with disabilities are welcomed and their needs are met within the hotel.
Guests enter through the automated doors into the reception which is welcoming for all people; those who prefer to stand and those who are seated.
The large conference and meeting centre can host groups from small meetings to large conferences and functions. Hearing augmentation systems are installed to assist those with hearing impairments to allow full participation in events held at the hotel.
Accommodation rooms and suites which meet the needs of people with physical disabilities, are provided. Each accessible room has an automated entrance door ensuring independence. A proportion of these rooms provide a connecting door to an adjacent room allowing people to travel together with a companion, allowing easy access and privacy at the same time.
Additionally, the hotel has rooms which are specifically designed to meet the needs of people with hearing impairments and people with vision impairments. Text services, captioning on televisions and visual emergency alarms are provided for people with hearing impairments, giving access to information, and providing surety should an emergency evacuation be required. Furniture and light switches which contrast with their background are included in rooms for people with low vision for greater ease when people are away from home. Flexible task lighting helps people create the optimum lighting conditions to suit individual needs themselves.
