Bea Landscape Design Ltd was appointed by architects Frank Shaw Associates to prepare conceptual and detailed landscape design drawings for a 32 bed Residential and Community Care Centre in Staveley, for Derbyshire County Council. The centre has been designed as a “blueprint” for future care centres catering for the local community and providing specialist care and support for adults living with dementia, including their carers.
It was important that the gardens were designed so that they were easy to navigate on safe, hazard free and have clearly demarcated routes. The layout of the large outer perimeter garden was therefore conceived on the notion of providing a simple circular route whilst dividing space with planting to create separate smaller enclosed external ‘rooms’. A dedicated allotment space was also provided at the rear of the care centre to encourage resident interaction.
A similar design approach was taken with the central courtyard with the confined nature of the space leading to a more intimate scheme being developed including a timber covered walkway, numerous smaller patio spaces and a central water feature.
Working as part of a multi disciplinary design team the practice prepared an initial scheme for auditing by the Stirling University Dementia Services Department followed by detailed design for planning submission.
On approval the practice prepared the employers requirements drawings including planting, layout and levels plans for this design and build project. The practice was also retained by the client as their landscape advisor during the construction phase.
Completed in 2010 Stirling University Dementia Services Development Centre awarded the project a Gold Standard Award achieving a score of 94%. It is hoped that this successful scheme will lead the way in design of future specialist dementia care facilities.
