hen Sarah and Steve Land decided the time was right to build their own house, designed with their severely disabled young daughter at its heart, their overriding aim was to meet all her complex medical needs, without ending up with a home that looked like a hospital. Working with architect Martin Bell, whose
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West Yorkshire-based practice, Transform Architects, specialises in accessible home design, the Lands devised a new house that would give eight-year-old Heidi a comfortable, supportive and stimulating environment to grow up in. She has cerebral palsy and multiple medical conditions following a HIE (Hypoxic- Ischaemic Encephalopathy) event, meaning she went without oxygen shortly after birth. The start of Heidi’s new home was her parents
purchasing a 1970s bungalow, then demolishing most of it and starting again. Sarah and Steve had been looking at plots for their self-build project for months. After one purchase fell through, Sarah admits to becoming a Rightmove obsessive. As soon as they saw the property, which cost £720,000, they knew it felt right. “The plot was perfect because it has level
gardens which were really appealing for us to suit Heidi as she enjoys being outside,” explains Sarah, 45, who runs Peeps, a charity she set up in 2018 which supports parents of HIE children. Steve, 40, is an insurance broker and co-founder of Peeps, and their architect Martin is now a trustee of the charity. Accessibility is all in a project like this, Martin
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www.sbhonline.co.uk
explains. For Heidi’s new home, this involved designing wider doorways and corridors, no- step entries, wheelchair-accessible spaces and bringing in smart home technologies to open doors, for example. “We have ensured there are no barriers or steps that would impede movement within the home,” Martin says. “Level access is crucial for wheelchair users or anyone with mobility issues. This means designing thresholds, entrances and pathways that are ush with the ground removing potential obstacles.” To promote well-being – and to help energy efficiency through solar gain large windows strategically-placed skylights, and an orientation that captures the surrounding natural views were crucial considerations. Steve says one hugely practical addition was “lots of plug sockets,” proiding eibility all oer the house for Heidi’s equipment. We were fortunate to be in a financial position to be able to do this project, so thought we would go for it,” Sarah says. “Heidi’s equipment takes up a lot of space, as she gets older she’s growing bigger and her needs are increasing, so this was a much-needed move.” Heidi’s condition means she is non-mobile and non-verbal. Fully tube-fed, and with a tracheostomy (an opening in her windpipe to help air and oxygen reach her lungs), she also suffers from dystonia (abnormal muscle tone), epilepsy, hearing and vision impairments and global developmental delay. The family’s former home, a semi-detached
HIGH POINT
From seeing Martin, our architect, doing the 3D walk-through on his computer screen to getting into the house and it being just as we imagined it. We felt that we had lived there for 12 months before we moved in. It feels exactly how we wanted it to feel, and for Heidi too. – Sarah
mar/apr 2024
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