Sustainability Concertus Design


Concertus Design and Property Consultants were appointed by Central Bedfordshire Council to design two brand new care home facilities in the region, to make up short falls and to provide replacements for existing facilities. Steven Ryles, principal architect and lead designer on the projects, explains the challenges of creating a new kind of care facility that provides a positive atmosphere while adopting new high level building standards.


Marigold House, Leighton Buzzard The design for the new Marigold House Care Home provides a three storey 63-bed care home incorporating a community hub for use by residents and the wider community. The facility needed to be designed to Passivhaus standards and to have a low impact on the environment. Building Information Modelling (BIM) was to be used to deliver an innovative and accurate design.


Throughout the design, there


were various aspects which had to be considered to ensure a fit-for-purpose facility could be provided. This included considering the needs of future residents such as dementia patients, as well as the requirement to ensure that the building is wheelchair accessible internally and externally. All rooms provided within the care home will have accessible en suite bathrooms. We were also responsible for the design


of the external areas associated with the build. The plans include extensive landscaped areas which will wrap around the building to encourage residents to engage and have access to the outside, which will support their health and wellbeing needs. The extensive detail using BIM shows that the focus has been on opportunities to develop an ‘outside/ inside’ strategy. This is where external spaces become an extension of the internal spaces, and vice versa, through elements such as planting and materials. Included in the design are terraces and balconies on the upper two levels. The design looks to create a feeling of home while balancing the needs of the residents. The building is set to become Passivhaus


certified, one of the earliest in the UK and the first for Central Bedfordshire. Passive design focuses on the use of thicker walls,


reduced air-leakage, and other techniques to reduce heat demand. This new building could act as a benchmark for government- commissioned projects going forward. CBC has also used a combination of air source heat pumps, ground source heat pumps, and solar thermal systems for all the heating and hot water requirements of the building, to improve efficiency.


isolation. All units are linked to a central ‘core’ with shared facilities such as a café/ bistro, medical rooms, hair and beauty salon, community/multi-purpose space, multigenerational activity space, and associated facilities.


The entire space will be connected internally, with large gardens and walks planned in and around the site to encourage use of the space by residents as well as the local community. The whole building has been designed


Steppingley Road, Flitwick The client wanted to provide specialist accommodation for over 55s and elderly people in Flitwick, Central Bedfordshire. The brief was to provide an independent living scheme in the form of self-contained apartments, along with community facilities, as well as a residential care home. The new care facility is to be situated on a large unused plot of land formally occupied by the former Flitwick Leisure Centre on Steppingley Road. Concertus were commissioned by CBC to provide the design proposals for the new care home in conjunction with Oliver and Robb Architects.


Our full design includes a 72-bed residential care home, an eight-bed short break facility for adults with learning or physical disabilities, and an independent living scheme, along with community facilities. The residential care home will contain all en suite bedrooms, a private garden, and has been designed to modern standards that deliver excellent infection control. The typical bedroom and cluster arrangements of the building are taken from Marigold House, which is currently being constructed on site for CBC. The independent living scheme is comprised of 55 one-bedroom and 33 two-bedroom apartments.


All apartments have been designed to be suitable for wheelchair users and easily adaptable to changing needs, as well as five of the apartments being designed to the higher wheelchair standards. The design is aimed at building a sense of community between all residents and combatting social


to meet Passivhaus standards, to help reduce the building’s energy demands now and in the future. This will overtake our current project at Marigold House to become one of the largest registered Passivhaus care provisions in the UK. Being a multidisciplinary consultancy, our in-house services were able to collaborate throughout the scheme, utilising cross- working ArchiCAD models and holding regular design team meetings. During these meetings, client/end user requests could be efficiently implemented within working designs. Our in-house Passivhaus consultants worked closely with external specialist consultants to ensure energy efficient measures were utilised throughout. We wanted to ensure maximum access/engagement with the external environment as this is proven to help maintain a healthy lifestyle. Allowance was made at all four levels of the building to have access to external spaces, particularly on the ground floor where private walkways and seating areas are provided to encourage residents to move and lightly exercise while engaging with those they live with. A community garden with raised vegetable plots will be included in the landscape design, allowing residents to keep up with their independent hobbies. The project is ongoing and progressing on site, with completion due in 2024. Central Bedfordshire Council have been pleased with the quality and service we have provided so far. Our design for Steppingley Road has been adopted as a template for future Central Bedfordshire Council projects. These innovatively designed facilities will provide further provision of much needed elderly care in Central Bedfordshire.


March 2023 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com 41


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