SPECIALIST FACILITIES Artwork selection


Other internal design work, Alex Caruso explained, included careful selection of artwork and soft furnishings to complement the internal colour scheme and features. “Structurally,” he explained, “the key elements included opening up all of the doors, and installing the lift. We discovered that all the load-bearing walls were timber-framed, which made the structural alterations less demanding.” He added: “There are now three ground floor lounges – one specifically a games room, while a former ‘extra care’ room has been converted into a sensory room, plus an office, the ADL kitchen, and an assisted bathroom. The upper floor houses six bedrooms, all with their own en suite facilities, plus a communal bathroom equipped with a bath incorporating ‘spa’ features, supplied by Gainsborough, and accessible by a hoist, and an assisted shower and toilet.”


Sensory room features


One of the other features considered key for this user group was a sensory room. The sensory rooms provided at Fossdale and Langdale House feature an interactive screen, which provides a range of audio- visual and communication facilities for residents – from the ability to watch films, access the Internet, and view scenes of nature and landscapes, to the facility to draw, write notes or lists, or make calls. The sensory rooms incorporate ‘blackout’ blinds and special lighting, which projects different colours, patterns, and sequences, to help introduce positive distraction. Looking at the two buildings’ broader design ethos, Alex Caruso said: “Being a complex needs facility, the focus was not actually on anti-ligature design; it was more about creating space, and a vibrant, uplifting environment that would appeal to the residents. The furniture we have selected was chosen for its domestic feel, but also had to be robust and durable.”


Overriding feeling


Alex Caruso said his overriding feeling was that this had been ‘a very interesting project to work on’ – especially in terms of understanding the particular needs of the user group, and the challenges they and their carers face. He expanded: “The conversations with Mary-Jane particularly, to understand to what extent we needed to bring in levels of robustness, anti-ligature, and colours, were eye-opening. With a low maintenance environment key, we also had to think about finishes; for instance the bedrooms feature a ‘wipe-clean’ textured wall from Origin, while all floors in the communal areas from Tarkett are vinyl. The bedrooms incorporate foam-backed carpets from Birch Carpets. We carefully considered LRV values for each transitional and contrasting area, to ensure that light reflectance values were within 10 per cent.” To differentiate the two buildings externally, Alex Caruso explained that the timber cladding on one would be green,


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Pictured, left to right, are Mary-Jane Hoyle, Craig Ellis (Tokenspire Construction), Lindsey Bratton, and Carl Ellis (Tokenspire Construction).


and the other purple. He said: “This means that residents will easily be able to orientate themselves to the ‘right’ building. The differentiation is reflected in the feature walls on entry. The L-shaped configuration of the adjacent two buildings, and the fact that each has just six bedrooms, contribute a domestic feel.”


Accessibility strategy


He added: “Our accessibility strategy also included relocating the main entrance doors to each building, which already had level access, but lacked adequate turning space for wheelchair users. The paved area at the front will be for parking, while there are very attractive gardens at the rear, which we anticipate users and staff enjoying – again via level access paving. In due course we will also be looking to incorporate a sensory garden, with a choice for users – a paved area for activities, an area for potting and growing plants, one for just sitting and contemplating, and another with sounds, such as of water.” With the two buildings set in the heart of the countryside, the bedrooms, located three at the front and three at the back, have good views over the gardens and adjoining fields. Mary-Jane Hoyle said:


“It’s actually quite rare to have this type of facility in such an attractive rural setting.” Alex Caruso concluded: “As a practice we have been involved with a number of acquired brain injury facilities, which are very interesting, and indeed very satisfying, to work on. Unfortunately, there seems to be a real shortage of such facilities, and not a great deal of public funding for them. However, I think there is now increasing private sector interest in establishing and running them, which one would hope will benefit the community of people with PMLD and their families and carers. The project to redesign and reconfigure these two buildings for Westwood Care has been extremely satisfying, and we hope they will provide a really comfortable, well- equipped home for members, and a great working environment for staff, for years to come.”


Fulfilling lives Josie, a support worker, with one of the members.


Mary-Jane Hoyle added: “Our aim in our PMLD facilities is to ensure that those we look after have as meaningful and fulfilling a life as we can give them, in a ‘home from home’ environment, rather than one that feels clinical or institutional. We will also – as we always do – be looking to forge strong links with the local community. For instance, through links we already have, we can access hydrotherapy pools for swimming at special needs schools, or take our residents bowling, or to the cinema. Some local charities put on activities such as pottery and crafts which we can access, our members have given poetry recitals, and some play wheelchair football. There are also adapted special needs bikes at local parks. The key is to find out about available local activities we can access which aren’t prohibitively expensive, because often when people go into residential care most of their benefits go towards paying for that care. “We are extremely pleased with the refurbishment of Fossdale and Langdale House, which shows a really meticulous approach from the architects to meeting the needs of this unique set of users, and making the units a great place to live and spend time in for them.”


n JULY 2019 | THE NETWORK


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