Neighbourhood Shopping Centre turned into Care Home

IT IS NOT OFTEN that so many negatives can result in a positive, with little more than an up hill struggle along the way but this was the case for the architectural team at Dearle & Henderson in Scotland.

JSL Care Ltd, a leading care home provider, approached the D&H team with the brief of finding a site for their next Care Home. D&H recommended an isolated neighbourhood shopping centre in Darnley that was attracting graffitti and other unsociable behaviour, resulting negatively in both the morale of the local residents together with their property values. First task at hand was to consult with the local residents, action groups and planning authorities in order to provide a solution which would suit not only the future care home residents but also those who lived and worked locally. It was to be a project that would only be classed as a success if all stakeholders benefited. The outcome was to design a highly landscaped exterior with varying scales of space to allow residents at different stages of their treatment to enjoy it equally. This included a south facing internal courtyard within the building and french doors, opening out onto the gardens. Internally, much of the focus is around the central point of the courtyard, with all four residents lounges angled towards this. Staff facilities are placed in overlooking positions around the front of the building to provide the highest possible level of security.

Speaking of the project, Scott Shearer of JSL Care Ltd commented “My main objective when we were going through the design stages was that we take my 18 years experience in the care field and blend this with current ideas in best practice to produce a building that would enhance the life’s of the service users. I think that Dearle and Henderson have managed to achieve this successfully”.