What are we proposing?
Frontier now own the site and we are developing proposals for a 50 bed care home with associated parking and landscaping. It will be designed to cater for a range of care needs including end of life, nursing and specialist dementia care.
Proposed site layout
The proposed care home is proposed centrally to the site, carefully located so it would not infringe on important and valued trees, some of which are noted as protected and proposed to be retained.
The building is proposed at a two storey height therefore providing bedrooms (all of which will be en-suite) and living spaces across two floors for residents, and all ‘back-of-house’ facilities and to be located on the second floor (as rooms within the roof).
The main entrance to the care home would be provided on the south elevation with direct access from the car park (comprising 18 spaces, including 2 no. disabled spaces) that is in turn accessed from Ashford Hill Road. The access and parking areas will be laid out so as to allow for turning and access by emergency vehicles. Refuse collection would also be provided for with an area proposed for bin storage close to the entrance of the proposed building. Cycle parking spaces will be provided for use by both staff and visitors.
The care home will be designed with the many different needs of the residents in mind. Both floors will provide a central nurses station with resident amenity and spaces throughout to promote interaction and provide a sense of community. These will include lounges, dining rooms and terraces (to the ground floor), in addition to a central café, hair and beauty salon, cinema and a multi-purpose room for various activities.
Above: Proposed Ground Floor Plan
Above: Proposed First Floor Plan
Above: Proposed Second Floor Plan
The design approach to the building is for it to be dementia-friendly, allowing easy navigation both inside the building and outside, providing a safe environment. Level access is to provided throughout, to the bedrooms as well as the lounges and dining areas. All of the accommodation will exceed Care Quality Commission standards.
As illustrated by the elevational drawings and CGIs, the design of the building has been influenced by the surrounding context and through pre-application discussions with Basingstoke and Deane Borough Council. The proposed care home is designed so as to respect the local character of the sites’ surroundings, and particularly relative to its edge-of-village setting.
Above: South and West elevations of proposed care home
Above: East and North elevation of proposed care home
The design of the care home is broken up with the use of recesses, differing ridge heights and cladding/render to introduce a domestic appearance and to create a building of a scale that is appropriate to its context. Furthermore, the care home building is set back from the boundaries of the site, ensuring an appropriate distance to existing adjacent properties to respect their amenity.
The existing vegetation is to be retained and enhanced where necessary, ensuring that the building will be well screened, reducing its prominence in the street scene.
Above: Illustrative CGI of access view
Above: Illustrative CGI of front entrance (south elevation)
Above: Illustrative CGI of rear elevation (north elevation)
While the landscaping of the site has yet to be finalised, this will likely feature native shrub planting to the boundaries of the site with retained hedging and trees. A communal patio area is likely to be positioned to the rear of the building and a managed woodland to ensure the existing trees will be retained and replanted where necessary. Footpaths providing access for all residents are likely to be proposed around the site with seating areas to allow residents to enjoy the attractive outside space.