Paving and Concrete for Retirement Villages and Healthcare

Paving in a retirement village has one job above every other: nobody trips. The residents are older, many use walking frames or mobility scooters, and a lip of a few millimetres between two pavers is a fall waiting to happen. Pavecraft lays and maintains paths, courtyards, roadways and outdoor living areas for retirement villages, aged care facilities and healthcare sites across Auckland, and we design every surface around the people who will actually use it.

Our village and healthcare work includes multiple stages for the Selwyn Foundation at Point Chevalier, Summerset retirement villages, the Mason Clinic in Point Chevalier and the Lincoln Road Medical Centre. It is work that comes back to us because the villages keep growing and because the surfaces we laid years ago are still level.

Surfaces that stay safe

The difference between paving that is safe on opening day and paving that is safe in ten years is almost entirely in the base and the falls. We compact and test the base course, set the falls so water runs off rather than pooling where it freezes or grows algae, and choose pavers and finishes with the right slip resistance for a wet Auckland winter. Where a village wants the look of paving with the absolute flatness of a slab, we lay broom finished or exposed aggregate concrete with a texture that grips underfoot.

What we build in villages

• Footpaths and shared paths connecting villas, apartments and the community centre, wide enough for two scooters to pass and graded for frames.
• Roadways, kerbing and visitor parking - low profile kerbs and flush crossings at every entrance. See kerbing and kerb and channel.
• Courtyards, terraces and BBQ areas in natural stone or wet cast pavers, with outdoor fireplaces, planters and seating walls built in.
• Villa driveways and patios for each new stage, finished to match the rest of the village.
• Pedestal paving over membrane on apartment terraces and podium decks, where the paving has to sit above a waterproofed roof.
• Retaining walls and drainage where the site slopes, built so the paths above them stay level. See siteworks.

Working in an occupied village

A retirement village is a home for several hundred people while we are working in it. We fence and sign every work area, keep at least one clear route to every door, schedule noisy work around meal times and rest times, and brief the village manager each morning on what is happening where. Our crews are Sitewise Gold accredited and are used to working around residents, visitors and care staff. A village should be able to keep operating as normal while its next stage is built around it.

Repairs and maintenance for existing villages

Most villages have older paving that has settled, and a settled paver is a trip hazard whatever else it is. We lift and relay sunken sections, grind or replace lipped pavers, rejoint and reseal, and can set up an annual walk over so problems are found before a resident finds them. For a village manager, one contractor who knows the site and turns up on a schedule is worth a great deal more than a call out after a fall.

Healthcare and medical sites

Clinics and medical centres have the same requirements with a harder programme: the building cannot close. At the Mason Clinic and the Lincoln Road Medical Centre the paving, paths and car park work was staged so access was maintained throughout. If you manage a healthcare site anywhere in Auckland, we can look at it with you and plan the work around your hours.