Work on a unique new health and care complex in Birmingham continues with the development of an 80-bed nursing and dementia facility.
Designed by Bournville Architects, the £5.3m development will form one of four new buildings that make up the Bournville Care Village.
The new nursing and dementia home will provide high-quality living accommodation that will be warm, luxurious and comfortable, delivering bespoke personalised care for each resident
Created to meet the demand for high-specification living accommodation within the heart of Birmingham; the development is one of the first in the UK to bring together different care elements within a specially-designed care community.
Commissioned by Gracewell Healthcare, the dementia unit will be built alongside a 212-bed extra-care scheme, a 35-bed passive housing apartment scheme for individuals with learning difficulties, and a health and wellbeing centre.
Work on the extra-care facility is well under way and the nursing and dementia unit commenced on site in November last year.
Ian Tipton, director of Bournville Architects, said: “There are currently around 750,000 people living with dementia in England and Wales, with 50,000 likely to be placed in residential care because of a lack of suitable support in the home and the community.
“The vast majority of families caring for individuals who have been diagnosed with dementia aspire to keep them in their own homes wherever possible.
“The new nursing and dementia home will provide high-quality living accommodation that will be warm, luxurious and comfortable, delivering bespoke personalised care for each resident.”
The nursing and dementia home has been designed as a collection of four ‘households’, each accommodating 20 bedrooms over two storeys and linked via a central public entrance pavilion. Each ‘house’ is further subdivided with a communal hub accommodating facilities such as a lounge and dining rooms, along with kitchen provision and a nursing station. Branching off from these communal hubs are two bedroom wings each housing 10 bedrooms each.
Each household has access to, and views over, the surrounding gardens, filling rooms with natural light. There are also terraces and balconies, offering further access to outside spaces.
The design responds to the neighbouring Phases One and Three – a village green and residential area providing scale to the development. The interior finish will be to a high standard, creating environments that are inviting, not only for residents, but for friends and relatives too, with an emphasis on creating environments people will want to visit and spend time in.
Through the design and finishes there will be a real sense of bringing life to the home, making the scheme attractive and appealing to all generations
Linking the L-shaped wings at the centre of the building is the entrance pavilion, which is light, airy and welcoming. The entrance pavilion is the core for the entire home, an active space providing access to a café with internet access, hairdresser, cinema and a small shop for essentials. The entrance pavilion will also connect with the Village Square, allowing direct access to the wider landscape for residents and the wider community.
Tipton said: “Gracewell homes are designed for both the frail elderly and for those suffering from dementia. As an organisation it appears to be very aware of the factors influencing the selection of a care home and the aspirations of residents, along with residents’ relatives, who are often pivotal in the choice of the home. Through the design and finishes there will be a real sense of bringing life to the home, making the scheme attractive and appealing to all generations.”
The design has been reviewed by experts from Stirling University’s Dementia Services Development Centre, which is putting together guidance on how to create truly dementia-friendly care environments.
Tipton said: “A lot of people out there are doing health and dementia design. What we wanted to do was look at several models and come up with something that took all the best thinking and brought it together under one roof.
A lot of people out there are doing health and dementia design. What we wanted to do was look at several models and come up with something that took all the best thinking and brought it together under one roof
“Dementia units used to be designed so that they were familiar to those born in the 1920s. The trouble now is that people with dementia can be of a very wide age group that spans 40 years or more. You therefore have to make sure that facilities appeal to all.
“We will have memory boxes by front doors to help people with dementia to find their rooms and we will be using artwork and furniture to create familiar spaces that relieve anxiety and promote wellbeing.”
The nursing and dementia facility should be open by the end of the year, with the entire development completed in 2016.