coombes : everitt Your Sector NSC Bradbury Gardens
NSC Bradbury Gardens
Sector
Specialist Care – residential accommodation
Client
National Star College
Location
Cheltenham Town Centre
Project Value:
£6m
This award winning specialist residential accommodation was our first project for the National Star College in Cheltenham. This new facility represented an important addition to the services that the charity is able to offer.
Designed in consultation with users and staff, Bradbury Gardens enables young adults with disabilities to live independently as small peer groups in a town centre location giving them access to the many amenities that Cheltenham has to offer. The centre also offers education, personal development and therapy support as well as a community meeting space for residents.
The project was officially opened in September 2015 by her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester who commented “Bradbury Gardens is beautiful. You said you wanted to create a place where we’d all like to live. You have achieved that.”
The Brief:
• To create high quality specialist residential care accommodation that felt like a home from home for 25 young people with a range of disability and support needs
• To offer a mix of accommodation and services to provide maximum flexibility for both the College and the residents
• Term time, longer term supported/ transitional living and short-term respite care
• Promote independent living and spaces to socialise with other residents
• Durable and easily maintained
Key Challenges:
• To work with the natural attributes of the site, including a couple of protected trees, to create a scheme that sat within a mature landscape adjacent to the Grade II listed park
• Balancing the functional and aspirational requirements of residents to create fully accessible accommodation that met all the specialist needs of the residents whilst having a domestic, homely character.
Our Responsibilities:
Specialist Advice
Our Solution:
The final design includes a range of residential accommodation including 1 and 2 bedroom apartments as well as 5 & 6 bedroom clusters. The layout of the spaces is thoughtfully designed to promote independent living with safe external spaces for the residents to enjoy.
Combining 1 and 2 storey buildings of different types and character echoes the domestic character of the surrounding dwellings. The dwellings adjacent to the road at the front of the scheme are oriented to present a residential frontage to mirror the dwellings on the opposite side of the road.
As you move through the site the scale reduces to single storey buildings, with low pitched green roofs oriented to present their gable ends to the park boundary. This reduction in scale and positioning helps to minimise the impact of the development on the adjacent historic Pittville Park.
The buildings use a variety of materials including red brick to echo the adjacent dwellings and boundary walls as well as render and timber cladding to create a softer appearance further into the site.
And the use of green roofs, private outdoor space, wild flower planting and incorporating existing trees, helps the building reflect its location with an established landscape from day one. Bradbury Gardens now acts as a perfect transition between the manicured school playing fields of Dunally primary school and the Grade 2 listed park.
Renewable energy sources help mitigate the running costs. We utilised Passivhaus principles to create a low energy demand dwelling rather than simply providing bolt on green technologies. The result is a super insulated building shell with low levels of air permeability, high levels of natural light, mechanical ventilation incorporating heat recovery, low water use appliances and low energy fittings.
Achieving a home from home environment was central to our design considerations. This included the use of domestic finishes over medical fittings, wet rooms that feel like any household bathroom and concealed overhead hoist systems as well as creating clever storage solutions for specialist equipment when not in use. Space planning was critical to ensure that all room sizes and circulation areas supported wheelchair access. And some of the first floor units take advantage of the fantastic outlook over Pittville lake.
Landscaping was integral to the success of the site. In addition to the general circulation routes, secondary paths around the perimeter of the site provide opportunities for quieter walks and are made from porous gravel to meet the needs of the residents and soften the landscape impact. And a sensory garden comprising a variety of plants and textures creates a stimulating outdoor space for residents to enjoy.
