older people's housing

Brownhills, Walsall

Six schemes have received planning permission as part of the Walsall PPP initiative for the re-provision of residential and day care services. Five of the schemes are for extra-care accommodation providing over 280 residential units and over 100 day care places. The sixth is a specialist dementia unit for 40 residents with communal areas set in clusters of ten around four courtyards.

calfordseaden worked closely with Housing 21's 'Dementia Voice' who specialise in advice on dementia care in designing the scheme proposals. The unit will be phase one of a master-plan, including other health care facilities at the Goscote Hospital site, Walsall, where calfordseaden co-ordinated their proposals with other architects for the master-plan proposals.

Brownhills, Walsall is a 60-unit extra care scheme with associated facilities, which reuses a brownfield site that was formerly the site of a 14 storey block of flats. calfordseaden have manipulated the building mass using modern forms of construction, addressing sustainability in both construction and energy use. This scheme has acted as a starting point for the regeneration of the area envisaged by the local council, whilst providing a new, much -needed facility for the community in the process.

Clients: Housing 21/Inspace

Contract Period: Start on site June 2009 – 15 months

Value: £7.1 million

Services: Architect