40 PROJECT REPORT: RETIREMENT LIVING & CARE HOMES
invites members of the wider community inside. Walker notes: “The team was able to retain a hidden but substantial brick wall to the eastern boundary which now exudes charm into the little quiet garden at the rear of the site.”
DETAILING
The facade (top image) has sections of bricks rotated 45 degrees to link balconies with adjacent windows © PRP & Richard Chivers
Linden Court’s communal areas “needed to be welcoming and appropriately located so as to enable people from the wider community to utilise the facilities without compromising on the privacy of the residents,” says Walker. “A horizontal recess expresses a ground floor plinth and visually anchors the building; this detail extends to become a ‘hit and miss’ garden wall providing security and privacy for the courtyard gardens and forming a new mews space to its southern edge.” He continues: “Dappled light can filter through to the garden, creating welcome shade and a soft, rather than divisive, relationship between the garden and the mews.” The architects intended the mews to function as a key node and meeting point for the scheme, offering space for community events, and meaningful intergenerational engagement. With the elderly being a demographic
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seriously vulnerable to loneliness and social isolation, it was also important for the architects that the communal spaces inspired residents and visitors to socialise – “even a cafe bar has been integrated” remarks Walker. To the same end, a cinema, lounge, and hobby room also feature in the programme. Visual connections and direct pathways extend back into the gardens.
Culture, care & comfort The UK Government’s ‘Housing our Ageing Population Panel for Innovation’ (HAPPI) standard was core to the project’s design. The standard is composed of a set of design criteria for designing spaces for an older demographic, foregrounding principles such as good light, ventilation, room to move around, and good storage. Walker explains: “The 10 HAPPI recommendations are all fully met in this design and, in our view, to the full benefit of the residents, the building owners and the budget.”
Aside from the features themselves, the architects also note the HAPPI standard’s unexpected benefits for the working team’s culture, commending it as a lever for embracing non-standard approaches for
ADF APRIL/MAY 2020
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