Cornford House Phase 2

Developments

The building location enables the new facility to be within easy access of the existing Care Home, while having the required space between them to respect an independent functioning identity and type of care offered by the respective buildings’.

Cornford House, Tunbridge Wells – Phase 2

Cornford House phase 2 will provide additional care facilities to the east of the existing Cornford House.

Our development will provide 68 en-suite bedrooms, communal areas and ancillary accommodation including assisted bathrooms, staff wc’s, clinical waste rooms, kitchen, laundry, treatment rooms and drugs, nurse stations, cleaners rooms, sluices, and staff room.
On the ground floor there is also a Day Care Centre providing care for approximately 20 people.

Our proposal is to build an Integrated Community Healthcare Centre to provide additional capacity to care for complex patients without the need for A&E/ acute admission. This would enable a new diagnostic, assessment and treatment facility with modern care suites that are equipped to deliver a high level of care. It would be an enhanced extension of their own primary care but providing dedicated medical, nursing and therapy support within one building.

Importantly, patients would be cared for in care suites. These differ from traditional bedrooms in three important ways:

Social space with comfortable seats so that residents’ families and friends can spend good quality time together in privacy and comfort.
Dining space so that residents can enjoy their meals in their own room, if they wish.
A kitchenette so that residents and their guests can prepare drinks and snacks.

This facility looks to provide a family friendly environment where patients would feel at home and would be able to care for themselves or by their carers where appropriate. Family members would be able to stay overnight within their relatives-room using the sofa bed. This innovative approach to being a ‘home from home’ would reduce the normal need for rehabilitation and would enable them to get back home quicker.

The facilities within the building would include:

Piped oxygen to every room
Real time proactive monitoring
Proactive dedicated medical input
Access for clinical team to patients GP record
Proactive dedicated nursing care
Enhanced physiotherapy and occupational therapy
On site patient testing lab
Dementia friendly environment with staff experienced in caring for confused patients

The individual would experience relationship centred care based on their needs in an environment in which they feel comfortable and able to get ready for home. Their stay would last a maximum of three weeks unless agreed to be extended.

This integrated community facility will be available to all GPs and care homes in the local area with enhanced proactive community medical input.

The proposal has been designed to incorporate Graham Care’s approach to care provision, along with a respectful approach to the existing built environment and local environment.

The design is based on a central core, with ancillary accommodation in the basement and communal space on the ground to third floors, with Care Suites in wings on the ground to third floors.

To minimise the visual impact of the proposed buildings, particularly the elevation facing the residential developments, the closest portion of the building is a storey lower than the general building height and finished as a “living wall”.

The living wall also softens the mass of the building in the context of Green Belt. The Northern edge of the 3 storey portion of the building is also lower than the Southern edge, in response to height sensitivities related to the residences.

The site as a whole is intended to supplement the services provided by the Tunbridge Wells Hospital. The ICHC is intended to supplement the services of the existing Care Home on the site.

The building location enables the new facility to be within easy access of the existing Care Home while having the required space between them to respect an independent functioning identity and type of care offered by the respective buildings.

The lower double storey “living wall” elements of the new building provide a softer South entrance as well as a more forgiving Northern element that occurs closest to the Northern residential development.

These living wall elements also have open terraces for the residents to move out onto from the communal parts of the building. The Northern terrace has a planter on the edge closest to the neighbouring development for additional greening, planting for the residents, as well as to provide a visual screen between this outdoor part of the building and the residential houses.

The central area of the building accommodates communal areas to suit each residents’ individual needs and associated ancillary spaces.

The scheme aims to provide various levels of privacy and experience in communal areas: from large dining/ lounges in the central hub to small, secluded sitting areas at the end of each wings.

The central hub is glazed from floor to ceiling to provide a light and airy interior, along with opening the views across the landscape.

The intention is to visually minimise the scale of the building. This is why the massing of the building has been visually broken up by using projections to the walls, variation in the roof levels, living wall covering a vast section on the western wing of ICHC and setting in the ground floor from the floor above. Timber cladding and render are drawn from the local palette of materials. The timber detailing and window treatment are also influenced by the local vernacular.

We encourage freedom of movement throughout the home and the gardens. This provides stimulation and physical exercise, and strengthens therapeutic social lives. To allow easy movement the layout of the proposed home is clear and separate zones within each home are easily recognisable. Moreover, all the areas of the buildings and the gardens are provided with level access or a lift.

Our residents are encouraged to walk and explore all garden areas, and the design provides linked footpaths to allow continuous movement.

The landscape proposal aims to provide an attractive landscape setting for both care units and is consistent with the landscape character of the area, the village edge setting and environmental context.

Main public areas are located on the ground floor including the entrance foyer, communal lounge, offices and hair and beauty. The client’s concept and philosophy is to achieve an open, fresh and vibrant feel of this area. The space will be flooded with natural daylight creating a light and airy space. At ground floor level access is provided from the lounge area to the resident garden to the north and to the east onto terrace that provides large area of comfortable seating in the fresh air.

The layout of the building is designed as two three storey single occupancy wings with communal areas on each level located centrally as well as at the end of each wing. A consulting wing extends directly from the central entrance and communal space, for ease of access. A service basement is located under the Eastern wing, using an extension of the fire escape stairs and lift for access in 2 separate locations. Light wells provide natural light and ventilation into the Basement on the South side. This minimises servicing noise to the existing residential development on the Northern side of the building.

Simple circulation within the building allows easy navigation within for the residents and their guests. two lifts are provided to enable access for residents and goods to all levels of the building.

The end of the Western wing, which is closest to the site entrance, accommodates the Community Room, which houses the Day Care Centre. A separate entrance on this Western edge is for the Day Care entry and exit. The facilities on the general Ground Floor Level are available for Community use.

Every floor has communal toilets for residents, available in the near proximity to activity rooms. All corridors used by the residents are designed to be 1635mm up to 2165mm wide, with recessed areas in front of the bedroom doors. This allows very good access for wheelchair users and exceeds the minimum current regulation. Handrails are provided along the edge of the passages to assist residents.

The distinctive soft curves of the building are intended to embody a natural character. The concave Northern edge creates a subtle sense of enclosure on the courtyard side of the building, where residents can walk out. The convex Southern edge collects as much sun at the same as maximising the varying views of the parkland setting, from different rooms. The shape, further, moves the building away from more linear institutional facilities and marries the language of the existing Care Home in the North side of the site.

Our home will provide a high standard of living and communal accommodation with an innovative style of elevation combining traditional and modern materials.

The health care facilities will operate in conjunction with the existing successful Care Home and further, the Tunbridge Wells Hospital. Both currently form part of the wider Pembury and Tunbridge Wells local community.

The new home will not only strengthen the amenity provision for the local elderly community, but will also enhance the viability of the existing Care Home.

The scheme has been developed and progressed in consultation with the local planning authority and has been subject to several pre- application meetings.

The quality of architectural design with distinctive elevations and landscaped gardens and high standard of accommodation with a wide array of facilities and services, will all contribute to enabling the home to become a prime example of collective living and care for the elderly.

The application is due to be determined by the local authority in Spring 2018.