Bernborough Ascot Retirement Village

Set trackside within the Brisbane Racecourse precinct, Poinciana House is a luxury response to retirement living. The vertical village encourages an active lifestyle, achieving a 5-Star Green Star community rating – an Australian first in the retirement living sector.

Developed by Keyton, Bernborough Ascot is a 300+ unit premium independent living and aged care precinct, set trackside overlooking Doomben Racecourse. Poinciana House is the second stage realisation of the Bernborough masterplan, delivering on our precinct design updates that unify the high level of amenity in the buildings immediate precinct and encourage a greater level of resident participation across the community village.

With a focus on aging in place, the development hosts 53 large luxury independent living apartments and penthouse-style homes and anchors the resident experience through its amenity.

The design empowers individuals to choose their level of participation in the community with programming that supports developing an improved social lifestyle and independence. Bernborough’s prime location is walking distance from Racecourse Village, with cafes, restaurants and health and beauty services on offer.

Poinciana House provides residents with state-of-the-art facilities that are akin to a luxury hotel but designed to provide a community-focussed village environment. These amenities include a bowling green and landscape walking tracks, an indoor pool, wellness centre, roof top terrace complete with exclusive outdoor private dining spaces with city views, a beauty salon and a number of other well-appointed community spaces. No expense has been spared with these spaces boasting natural stones and timbers and other high-end luxury finishes.

There are two apartment schemes on offer at Poinciana House– Distinctive and Balanced. Distinctive being at the forefront of interior design, with a sophisticated material palette. The Distinctive Scheme homes have a luxurious feel. This was created through a layering of contrasting tones and unique and bespoke architectural details. The Balanced Scheme homes are a breath of fresh air. They are warm, inviting, and harmonious. They have a natural sophistication and neutral tones, allowing residents to personalise their home. This subtle, tonal layering, and fresh, crisp palette uplifts the mood of all who occupy the space.

A Connected Village Green

Poinciana House is the second building delivered within Keyton’s Bernborough precinct, following the completion of Fig Tree House in 2020. During its design, Cottee Parker significantly reworked the original masterplan to create a cohesive village green and connected landscape network, strengthening community amenity for retirement living.

The revised masterplan reshaped two long apartment buildings into three distinct forms, opening the precinct towards the adjacent racecourse. This approach creates more breathing space between buildings and clear sightlines from the street through to the track, reinforcing the precinct’s identity and sense of place.

The redesign also improved efficiency and yield, accommodating an additional 40 apartments—a 12% increase—and 30 additional car spaces—an 8% increase. Rooftop recreation areas further expand the communal spaces available to residents.

Trackside Living, Inspired by Place

The three trackside buildings at Bernborough Ascot feature façade treatments grounded in the site’s physical and historic context.

To the south, finely detailed woven screens wrap around balconies, providing privacy for residents. Their frayed-edge battening references the site’s wetland history, where vines and climbing plants were used to craft fishing nets for nearby Breakfast Creek.

To the north, irregular balustrade elements extend across long, linear balconies. Set against the strong horizontal lines of the slab edges, they create a sense of speed, flow and movement, echoing horses racing along the adjacent track.