We were commissioned by our clients to assist them with the extension and refurbishment of their existing care home to provide improved standards and conditions to meet the requirements of the Care Quality Commission.

The existing home had become quite run down and there were numerous changes in floor level. The existing buildings sat on a long but narrow site and space for any significant extension was principally at the rear of the site. However much of the site was outside the local authority’s development boundary which left very little scope for extension.

Nevertheless, with the aid of a planning consultant, we were able to produce a design meeting with the planning officer’s approval and planning permission was achieved with relative ease.

The completed scheme increases the number of bedrooms from 20 to 32 and additionally provides much needed communal and ancillary accommodation.

The scheme comprises four main elements:-

• The original core of the home has been retained and extensively remodelled and updated. Floor levels have been adjusted to ensure that residents’ areas were free of steps. This area now contains primarily bedrooms, offices and communal areas.
• An extension has been added to both sides of the original home following demolition of existing timber buildings. One of these is single storey containing the kitchen and dining room. The other is two storeys and contains four en suite toilets.
• The rear extension contains mainly bedrooms, communal spaces and ancilliary accommodation. This is a ‘T’ shaped extension and takes the form of a central corridor with rooms off of both sides. Sun pipes are incorporated within the flat roof over the corridor to provide sufficient natural light.

Our clients required the home to be occupied and fully functional throughout the construction period. This was logistically complicated but, with the co-operation of the main contractor, was achieved successfully.