Refurbishment


Designing for the next hundred years


Centarian celebrity home Denville Hall is undergoing major refurbishment and expansion work.Maro Kalli explains how the home management and architecture and design teams aim to achieve a balance between creating an environment fit for the next 100 years without sacrificing character and heritage.


The redevelopment of the Denville Hall estate began with a straightforward question: how can a care environment that has successfully supported its residents for almost one hundred years continue to do so for the next century? Founded in 1926 as a charitable home for


members of the entertainment profession, Denville Hall has continually adapted throughout its history while retaining the qualities that have made it distinctive. Although the physical estate has changed, its identity has remained rooted in community, dignity and independence. As Denville Hall enters its second century, the current redevelopment represents the next stage in that history rather than a departure from it. The brief extends beyond the provision


of additional accommodation. It seeks to strengthen the estate through twelve assisted-living apartments together with new communal facilities, allowing residents


to maintain greater independence while remaining connected to the social life of the Hall. Equally important was ensuring that the


development formed part of the existing estate rather than becoming a separate enclave. Design decisions have therefore been assessed not only against immediate functional requirements, but also against the longer-term objective of creating an estate capable of responding to future needs without losing the character it has developed over almost a century.


Establishing the design team The redevelopment has been shaped by a multidisciplinary team brought together in late 2019 by Forbes Rix, acting as creative directors and interior designers. Having collaborated previously with Kalli- Architecture & Design on residential projects, Louisa Rix and Natalie Forbes


established an integrated design approach, recognising that architecture, interiors and landscape should be developed together rather than sequentially. This was particularly relevant at Denville Hall, where approximately 80 per cent of the estate comprises mature landscape and gardens. The early appointment of London Garden


Designer reflected the importance of the external environment to residents’ daily experience and allowed the landscape to inform the masterplan alongside the architecture. Our team was appointed to lead the


architectural design, and we subsequently brought in H&H Property Services to the core team as project managers and quantity surveyors, having worked previously with their principal. As the design progressed, the team expanded to include structural and civil engineering, mechanical and electrical engineering, fire engineering, planning,


October 2026 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com 15


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