Work has begun on site at the Atkins-designed Figbury Lodge Care Home, having been granted planning approval in September. The new care home specialises in dementia care and includes a unit especially adapted for resident reablement and rehabilitation, reducing hospital admissions and facilitating discharge from hospital where needed.
With a national shortage of affordable care home places, Figbury Lodge Care Home has been commissioned by the Borough of Poole to provide 80 new beds for Poole’s most vulnerable residents. Atkins is providing multi-disciplinary design consultancy services for the development.
Matt Coe, Atkins’ project architect, said “From the outset, our desire has always been to create a ‘home’ for the residents. We started by looking at how the enduring childhood image of a two-storey house with a pitched roof, smoking chimney, windows and a door is an instantly recognisable form that creates a welcoming sense of familiarity for the residents.
We designed Figbury Lodge to have a simple form, with bedrooms interspersed with communal facilities to mitigate long corridors. This allows residents to access the garden areas from several locations, enabling easy and unrestricted wandering within a secure environment.”
Cllr Karen Rampton, cabinet portfolio holder for Adult Social Services, Borough of Poole, said “Figbury Lodge will be a vital and rewarding asset for Poole, and will provide much needed care for vulnerable members of our community. I look forward to seeing work begin on the construction of Figbury Lodge, and seeing how it benefits the residents of Poole in the future.”
To meet BREEAM targets the new care home will include sustainability measures, such as photovoltaic systems on the roof to generate renewable electricity. Energy and water efficiency will be monitored through the building management system to help reduce the overall running costs of the care home.
Figbury Lodge Care Home is due for completion in 2019. Atkins’ other work in the care home sector includes the design of West Hall Care Home and Mayflower Court.
