Date: 31 October 08
Author: Caroline Ednie, Web Editor
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According to Oliver Chapman, the Supported Housing project at Todlaw for Berwickshire Housing Association, is the first care home in Scotland based on a housing model rather than traditional institutional provision. Central to the design of the houses and surroundings is the idea of maximizing independence for the owners while still maintaining their links to the local community and amenities.
Oliver Chapman Architects responded to the brief - which called for the creation of 14 fully accessible semi-detached houses and shared services facility with 24 hour care for people with substantial disabilities and illnesses - by arranging the houses around a ‘tartan grid’. This arrangement creates a varying relationship between the houses and the quiet street. Some houses are set back further from the road than the conventional building line, whilst others are set close to the road edge. There is also a mixture of gables and eaves adjacent to the road which adds to the streetscape character and screens parked cars from view.
The housing types are both ‘core’ and ‘cluster’. Core houses are for individuals with a greater care need and are located closer to the services building, where care managers are based and meals provided for those that wish to eat communally. The core houses are also connected to the services building via a linear covered way structure.
Stained larch has been used for the rainscreen cladding and fibre cement slates feature on the walls and roofs. The eaves are detailed flush with a recessed gutter and downpipe with powder coated aluminium flashing. This trim appearance emphasises the simple form of each pair of dwellings. Entrances thresholds are all treated as recesses, rather than add-on porches, an effect that adds to this aesthetic.
The houses are all efficiently planned to satisfy space standards for wheelchair users whilst meeting Communities Scotland stringent cost parameters. Assistive technologies fitted in the houses include ceiling mounted hoists and wireless call alarm devices.
As the tenants were formerly residents of Sue Ryder Care at Marchmont House - an imposing listed country house and estate - the design brief required seamless transfer and avoidance of move-related stress. Accordingly, significant attention was paid to provision of semi-mature and soft landscape to complement the building group.
Joint funding for the project was provided by Communities Scotland, Scottish Borders Council and Berwickshire Housing Association.
Project: Supported Housing, Todlaw, Duns, Berwickshire
Architect: Oliver Chapman Architects
Client: Berwickshire Housing Association (in partnership with NHS Borders and Scottish Borders Council Social Work Department)
Location: Berwickshire
Cost: £1.4m £900/m2
Link: www.oliverchapmanarchitects.com
Images: Angus Bremner and Paul Zanre
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