OUR TEAM
SPECIALISTS, educators, DESIGN LEADERS AND BIG THINKERS.
Gary Batt Associates Architects is lead by Gary Batt Managing Director who has been practicing Architecture for 34 years and has been specialising as an aged care architect for the past 27 years.
GBA Architects has a dedicated team with skills in a variety of architectural fields, project management, budgeting, quality control, graphic design, building procurement, value engineering, master planning and 3D visualisation. Our practice is enriched by their diverse cultural backgrounds, broad educational and practical experience. This contributes to the high quality of our designs and projects working together in collaborative project teams, vigorously debating ideas and pooling specialist skills to achieve successful solutions for our clients. Our strength lies in listening to our clients early on and throughout the process to achieve spaces which meet both the needs of the residents, staff and wider community.
GBA team members have been selected expressly for their skills, creativity, passion, tenacity and ambition. Our team work on projects that vary in scale, complexity and diversity in the aged care and retirement sectors. They are committed to analysing, contributing and sharing the knowledge of evidence based design research to improve outcomes for all in practical and meaningful ways.
Maintaining relationships has been at the core of how GBA have been able to be so successful. Drawing on skilled consultants for insights means Gary Batt Architecture is able to plan for and deliver a fully conceptualised, evidenced based final product that not only fits within budget, but helps fix and prevent any future issues.
GBA believes an Aged Care Facility should from the beginning work towards the needs of the resident and staff. This means that the architecture, the design, fit-out, work together with the education and model of care of the facility. We pride ourselves on being an experienced specialist team, working exclusively with a small number of clients at a time ensuring our commitment to project from start to finish.
GBA ARCHITECTS EXTENDS ITS EXPERTISE TO INCLUDE THE FOLLOWING CONSULTANTS:
debbie de fiddes
CONSULTANT
Debbie de Fiddes lends her specialised knowledge to GBA Architects, with over 30 years in designing for the elderly as managing director of de Fiddes.
Debbie established Design Guidelines for Dementia and Aged Care for the NSW Health Department and has published numerous articles for publications, such as the Australian Journal of Dementia Care, Australian Ageing Agenda and Leading Age Services Australia’s Fusion Magazine and is the author of “Universal by Design”.
Debbie has recently been appointed a Dementia Services Development Centre (DSDC) through Stirling University, United Kingdom. The specialist role through Evoke Collect Australasia is pivotal in connecting Australian organisations with likeminded international experts creating exciting opportunities to promote and educate the importance of design for people with dementia.
Kirsty Bennett
CONSULTANT
Collaborating and sharing her extensive expertise with GBA Architects, Kirsty has over 25 years of experience designing for people living with dementia. Kirsty’s practice centres on key design principles which she has developed with Professor Richard Fleming. These principles have been used to guide education and policy on designing for people living with dementia in Australia.
They were included in the ‘Australasian Health Facility Guidelines’ in 2016, and in 2018 became the standard by which residential aged care design is judged by the Australian Aged Care Quality and Safety Commission. They are currently being used to evaluate the quality of design of facilities being proposed for inclusion in the Australian Health Department’s Specialist Dementia Programme.
Kirsty alongside Debbie de Fiddes is a recognised DSDC design associate leading the way in dementia design and education.
DE FIDDES
CONSULTANT
With her team at de Fiddes, Debbie is able to call upon a host of skilled designers, innovators and occupational therapists who work exclusively in the aged care sector. Not having to brief de Fiddes on the industry means that GBA is able to create facilities that lay the appropriate ground work for positive aged living.
de Fidde’s welcome input finds the opportunities in the layout for a more positive end user experience, meaning an increased sense of wellbeing in the staff, residence and families.
