Description of the Project

The proposal is for a high-quality, highly sustainable 80-bed care home for ORE Developments Ltd. The development forms part of a larger master plan prepared that includes a housing estate and a retirement home. The site area for the care home is 5,762 sq m (0.576 hectares, 1.42 acres). The total GEA of the new building is 4,521 sq m, and the total GIA is 4,192 sq m. Planning permission has been granted and works are due to commence on site in the summer of 2026.

The site, located on the southern edge of Nantwich, is currently open fields, with no discerning features to protect, or to exploit and develop. It is predominantly flat but falls approximately 0.7m from east to west and approximately 0.9m from north-east to south-west. It sits in the central northern section of a master plan, replacing part of what was to be commercial space in the approved scheme.

Along the northern boundary is a linear open space that forms part of the greater crested newt (GCN) compensation areas that were part of the originally approved master plan. A new public footpath runs along the southern edge of the GCN compensation area, parallel to the northern boundary of the Oculus site. The GCN compensation area links with the public open space (POS) that runs down the western boundary of the Oculus site. These two areas provide an extensive open green aspect from the new care home along the western and northern borders.

Our client seeks to establish new ideas about specialist care in their buildings. They take an innovative approach across all aspects of design and establish exemplary levels of sustainability.

At the core of the design is the notion that the form of a building itself can create a welcoming, enveloping, and calm environment for its residents. Legibility in the way the building is organised is seen as essential, allowing residents to understand their building clearly when they move around outside their rooms.

The layout of the building therefore addresses research that suggests that dementia sufferers do not like dead ends when negotiating a building, finding them confusing. A feeling of continuity and of continuous movement is therefore at the heart of the design, with the building laid out with a continuous loop of circulation that is rotated around, and orien¬tated towards, a central communal courtyard. This continuous corridor provides access to the individual rooms, which face outwards towards the surrounding countryside, providing a green aspect for each room.

The courtyard itself is a secluded, external landscaped space, accessed from the communal bar and café at ground floor. All the social spaces at each level – the dining rooms, communal lounges, the bar/café, the cinema and the gym – overlook the central courtyard, providing another layer of legibility for the residents.

The provision of excellent levels of daylight throughout the building, in the individual rooms, in the social areas and in the main circulation is also a very important element of the design. In the rooms, in particular, full height windows provide a greater sense of space. They also allow views out and across the landscape for someone lying in bed or sitting in a chair. There is always therefore a connection with the outside, regardless of the daily regimen of individual residents.