Dee Why is a quintessential Australian beachside suburb offering a vibrant atmosphere and a café lifestyle. Dee Why Bowling Club, however, is surrounded on three sides by public reserve, looks out over playing fields, and is set amongst the bush landscape and adjacent to a significant flood path. Further, the site is screened from Fisher Road North by residential allotments, the traditional home typology of Sydney’s Northern Beaches. The site is a generous host to dynamic interplay: between public and private, landscape and architecture, domesticity and recreation. The local area has witnessed significant appreciation in wealth, as the value of land grew over the last decade. At the same time, the population of the Northern Beaches has aged significantly, moving towards retirement and outgrowing the need for a large family home. As a result, the market for independent living for seniors has burgeoned.

While the Club has strong and active membership in the local community, the facilities are yet to capitalise on the changing demographics of the Dee Why area. GROUPN came on board to help the Club navigate an entry into the multi-residential market, and to coordinate a number of complicated factors brought about by strict planning controls and a complicated geography. The existing Club and one bowling green are demolished to make way for a completely new Club building, while an under-utilised portion of the site is to be developed into a cluster of luxury Independent Living Units (ILUs).

ILUs cater to the retiring Baby Boomer market, a demographic with an exacting appreciation for design, lifestyle and contribution to the community. The design intent at Dee Why is to provide a built atmosphere that will enable a nurturing a vibrant seniors community to thrive, where residents feel relaxed, included and safe. Residents will choose Seniors Living at Dee Why Bowling Club for its location as much as its facilities. Design principles will be established for both ILUs and new Club. The designs will be bold and  contemporary with floating roof forms and robust rectilinear features, responding to its urban park side setting and an understated coastal luxury. Finishes will be selected for easy care and low-maintenance living while catering for an aspirational resident.

GROUPN has provided a comprehensive masterplan that resolves the identity of Dee Why Bowling Club, as leafy haven for a lifestyle that is both family oriented, and peaceful in its old age.

Design Outcomes

• completely new Clubhouse, including dining, cafe, terrace, kitchen, function areas, gaming and underground car parking

• 25 new luxury independent living units, associated landscape and community areas, underground car parking and storage

• resolution of complicated site and planning parameters to achieve a holistic masterplan outcome that ensures optimal livability and lifestyle for residents and members alike