New build


bloods. There’s no reason for us not to put up hydration drips,” she says. The home is also seeking closer


relationships with local healthcare providers and universities. Ms King hopes to develop nursing student


placements through nearby Canterbury Christ Church University, in part as an effort to create a pipeline for future staff. The focus reflects wider system ambitions


around integration and workforce development.


Connected living Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the Herne Bay Manor is its relationship with the adjacent independent living development, representing a step away from traditional models where care homes sit physically and psychologically apart from wider communities. While operationally separate, the two


elements create a continuum of support. Residents living independently in nearby extra care housing – located a stone’s throw from the home in freshly landscaped grounds - can access services and support as needs evolve. “We are here should they need us,” says


Ms King. Potential future services could include


offering housekeeping, community activities and emergency support pathways, she adds. The arrangement also creates opportunities


for couples facing differing care needs. “If one person needs care in the future


then they can move over here while the other remains nearby.”


Rebuilding community connections If there is one theme that emerges repeatedly throughout Ms King’s enthusiastic introduction to the new home, it is connection. At the time of my visit, the home had


already begun hosting community coffee mornings and opening its doors to neighbours affected by years of construction activity. “We’ve invited them in just to have a look


around and have coffee, to ask how can we help them? Can we work together?” Partnerships are developing with local


charities, Age UK groups, dementia organisations, healthcare professionals and businesses, and plans in the pipeline at the time included public events, education initiatives and a summer fete involving local musicians, traders and community organisations. For Ms King, this work addresses one of


Designing a boutique, dementia- informed coastal home


Herne Bay Manor has been conceived as a boutique hotel for older people – with all the comfort and aspiration that implies, but also underpinned by rigorous dementia design and regulatory compliance, according to lead designer Katie McGoff and project manager Julie Cawood, who talked TCHE through the key themes and parameters of the brief they created and delivered for the home: n The core concept is “coastal, but not twee”. Rather than obvious seaside clichés, using painterly, watercolour- like coastal references, coral motifs and a soft maritime palette. The team partnered closely with a specialist textile and wallpaper house, allowing them to commission and recolour bespoke designs that aren’t easily replicated from a supplier’s pattern book.


n The bespoke approach extends to sculptural bent-wood lighting from a South Coast maker and curated artwork


developed with a specialist art supplier and a local photographer. Each corridor and lounge is layered with “subtle references” to local history, industries and leisure – from boatbuilding and fishing to holiday memories – creating conversation prompts for residents, families and staff.


n Light reflective values and visual contrast for residents with dementia and sight loss, to safe, tactile activity features on dementia floors. Parity between residential, nursing and dementia floors, so no level of care feels like a “lesser” option.


n Premium rooms are planned for every floor, including dementia and nursing, designed offer choice and dignity. The aim is to create a model that combines brand distinctiveness, strong market appeal and dementia-informed practice, offering a template for homes that are both commercially competitive and clinically appropriate.


the care sector’s longest-running challenges: public understanding, rather than just marketing the home to potential residents and their families. “I still think there’s not enough out there


to support families,” she says, which means relatives are forced into supporting loved ones at home long beyond the point where they need more help. She recalls one local woman she met who


had been caring for a husband with multiple sclerosis who “hadn’t had a holiday for eight years.” Stories like these reinforce her belief


that care homes should be viewed not as institutions of last resort but as valuable community assets.


A home with its own identity As Dunham Care prepares to open further homes across Kent, Ms King says the group will resist the pressure to standardise. Most major operators rely on repeatable


models, she says, adding she hopes Herne Bay Manor will demonstrate a different path. That intention is echoed by Ms McGoff,


who says the interiors are designed to give Dunham Care a recognisable identity rather than a generic premium look. “I’d like to think that our care homes just have an edge over a lot of others that can be quite corporate,” she says. For her, the aim is for visitors to notice


the care taken in the design without immediately being able to place where the furnishings came from. “We try to make sure that you’re not going to walk into, you know, John Lewis or anything like that and just see things from the home. You’ll see things and think, ‘Wow, that’s gorgeous, where can I buy that?’ And you say, ‘Well, actually, you can’t because it’s bespoke.’” Large corporate operators, she argues,


can become overly formulaic and roll out their model wherever they open a home. Her ambition is that Dunham retains flexibility and local responsiveness as it grows. Herne Bay Manor’s specification is


impressive – bespoke textiles, sculptural lighting and carefully considered dementia design – but the team are clear that this is not just about looks. The deeper ambition is to embed the home in the memories and everyday lives of local people. For all the investment in design, technology and development, the measure of success at Herne Bay Manor may ultimately be more about whether it becomes a place that local people feel belongs to them. n


36 www.thecarehomeenvironment.com October 2026


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