Altro products have been installed at a new £10m dementia-friendly ‘super care home’ in Scotland.
Crosslet House in Dumbarton is a 90-bed, ultra-modern complex that incorporates a dementia unit and daycare provision.
Owned and managed by West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC), built by Morgan Sindall, and delivered as part of the hub project in Scotland, the new facility is the result of a £20m investment by WDC to replace six residential care homes and four daycare centres.
Morgan Sindall and Altro are supply chain partners on the hub project in Scotland, and Crosslet House is the first of these projects where a full Altro specification has been maintained from start to finish.
In creating Crosslet House, WDC has responded to the growing population of older patients with dementia with an innovative approach to the management of care homes.
It has undertaken a significant amount of research around the use of space and colour to assist those with dementia.
And the result is that Crosslet House provides a ‘home for life’ for residents.
As navigation can be challenging for people with dementia, WDC used four primary colours to denote ‘houses’, helping residents to identity their own home. The entire building is colour coded to ensure it meets dementia design criteria.
Each resident in Crosslet House has their own private en-suite bathroom, and Altro Pisces safety flooring in the dark-grey shade ‘Anchor’ was fitted for style, comfort and safety.
This product has a soft, homely appearance, with superior slip resistance, and performs whether wet or dry and with bare feet or shoes.
Altro Pisces was also fitted in various medical rooms, toilets, and staff showers.
Altro Whiterock Splashbacks have been installed in various locations to provide a striking-yet-hygienic alternative to tiles.
Standard White has been installed in the en-suites behind mirrors, and in each of the colour-coded kitchens - Scarlett in the ‘Red’ house, Viola in the ‘Purple’ house, Key Lime in the ‘Green’ house, and Taxi Cab in the ‘Yellow’ house.
To create a warm, homely environment, Altro Wood Safety flooring in the shade ‘Urban Cherry’ was fitted in general circulation areas, corridors, dining and living rooms, colour-coded kitchens, hair salon, and staff room.
The colours and finishes of the floors and walls give a lovely overall ambiance of homely warmth and help to create a bright, welcoming and stylish interior
The combination of Altro Stronghold 30 safety flooring and Altro Whiterock White wall sheet was fitted in the main kitchen and kiosk shop to provide the ultimate hygienic and safe environment.
Back-of-house areas such as the laundry, cleaning service storage, sluice rooms, infection control room, and stairways, were fitted with Altro Walkway 20 safety flooring to ensure optimum safety and reliability underfoot.
And the ITC room was fitted with Altro Walkway 20 SD, the static dissipative version that minimises the of damage to static-sensitive equipment such as computers.
Crosslet House support services manager, Rhona Aitken, said: “The feedback we have had so far from relatives, residents and visitors in general has been wonderful. Everyone says Crosslet House is like a plush hotel!
Colour plays an important role in wayfinding and orientation at the home
“The colours and finishes of the floors and walls give a lovely overall ambiance of homely warmth and help to create a bright, welcoming and stylish interior.
“The Altro products are certainly delivering the non-clinical feel we wanted to achieve, and it’s fantastic to see residents feeling so at home here.”
She added: “Safety is a huge priority at Crosslet House and we are delighted with the flooring, particularly in the en-suites, because it’s completely secure under foot for both residents with bare feet and staff wearing shoes. The wood-effect flooring is also very safe, but smooth too, and it looks beautiful.
“In terms of hygiene, there are no joints, cracks or bubbles for the dirt to hide in, so hygiene is maximised and this is vital for the health of everyone at Crosslet House.”
The flooring was installed by McGarry Flooring and the walling by Veitchi Interiors.