New opening
sustainability. “‘Fabric first’ is the approach that we’ve always used to make sure the building is as efficient as possible through its materials and insulation levels, to make sure that whatever heat is put into the building when it’s required is retained,” says Richard. “Cost of energy these days is a massive thing for operators, as it is for everyone else. So we’ve got to be really careful about that. In several years-time there’ll be no gas boilers being allowed in new developments, so the newer developments we’re looking at have air source and ground source heat pumps in the mix with photovoltaics and solar panels.” The minute one walks into Maplewood Court, there can be no doubt that this is project has been constructed and appointed to a very high standard, with décor more akin to a boutique hotel. I wondered if either Oakland or Horizon anticipated any issues arising post-build?
“The first 12 to 18 months, the building
moves,” says Richard. “There’s a whole load of water in all the plaster, the brickwork, the timber. All the materials that go into the structure are heavily water-based. As the building dries, it does shrink and move a little bit. So with our contract with [Horizon] we’ve got a 12-month defects period. We’ll have little bits and bobs that happen and we’ll deal with them through the first 12 months, but towards the end of that 12 months, Horizon will come back and do anything that needs sorting out.”
Interior design
The striking glass-fronted entrance area was something that underwent changes from the original design. “We’ve got a nice orangery at the front,”
explains Richard, “which was one of the design changes we made very early on. As you walk through the [front] door, it was going to be a double-storey atrium, and we just thought that might not be the best use of space. Although, from an architectural point of view, I’m sure it would look fantastic. Still, from the outside it hasn’t changed. We created a nice little orangery area on the side of the dining room, which looks fantastic and I think it will be very, very popular.” Indeed, the floor-to-ceiling glass frontage allows a generous view of some of the landscaped gardens, as well as the home’s ample parking, which incorporates electric charging points. At the time of my visit, only five residents had moved in to the newly-opened home, so Maplewood Court
September 2022
www.thecarehomeenvironment.com
felt a little like a show home, albeit a very large one. It was an ideal time to take a tour, and Richard and Phil showed me around Maplewood Court’s two floors. Our first stop was a well-appointed and cosy lounge. I asked Richard if Oakland had followed other providers in installing a cinema. His reply indicated a more pragmatic approach: “We’ve changed our cinema to a TV room,” he told me. “What we’re finding at the moment is that although cinemas look fantastic on brochures - and they do look very good - they don’t always get used that often by residents. So, rather than having a full projector and screen, we’ve putting large TVs on the wall and then allowing the space to be a bit more user-friendly. If residents want to do something else in there, they can do, and it’s not stopped by having a big screen in there.” Next stop were the kitchens – impressive in their gleaming chrome and steel glory.
I asked Richard if meals would be bought in or prepared from scratch. Perhaps unsurprisingly, it was the latter: “It’s all raw ingredients that come in and we’ve got our own chef and assistant chef and we employ those directly and they come in and they cook everything,” says Richard. “So, all of our meals are very bespoke to the residents. What we do in all of our existing homes is hold monthly forums with residents and their families to not only talk about general stuff that’s going on but very specifically about food. We do an annual survey with all of our homes and their residents and their families and obviously food and the quality of food and snacks and things like that is very high up on the agenda because everyone has their own individual thoughts and specifications on how they want their eggs cooked.” There are bedrooms on both floors. Each is a good size and feels less like a clinical space and more like a domestic and
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