St Michael’s Hospice in Hereford has won the title of the West of England’s Most Inclusive Building at the Local Authority Building Control (LABC) Awards.
The LABC’s Most Inclusive Building Award recognises facilities that have gone above and beyond usual design standards in ensuring they are accessible to, and meet, the needs of all users.
The project team, including St Michael’s Hospice; building contractor, Speller Metcalfe; and Hereford architect, Architype, had to evidence how they had successfully incorporated the needs of a wide range of users into the design of the building.
The project involved the original hospice building being repurposed into a daycare facility and the construction of a new training suite, office spaces, and a high-spec timber framed inpatient building.
The new building was built to accommodate 20 private, en-suite rooms for inpatients, grouped into four social clusters, with each sharing a lounge area and access to a private terrace where patients are able to enjoy views of the Herefordshire countryside.
The works also included the development of a new range of integrated services including quiet rooms, group meeting areas, therapy facilities and a newly-constructed educational facility allowing for specialist in-house training.
Des O’Neill, managing director at Speller Metcalfe, said: “At St Michael’s Hospice we worked hard to achieve a wholly-inclusive space that allows patients privacy and dignity, but also provides much-needed areas for patients to socialise and interact with one another and their loved ones.”
Speller Metcalfe were also shortlisted for Best Public Service Building and Best Large Commercial Project, both for St Michael’s Hospice.
