Creating Community Spaces

Retirement accommodation, whether provided for residents who are fully active, with reduced mobility, or requiring extra care, is designed to create a self-contained and active community. The extent of communal facilities will vary with the category and scale of the development, with certain minimum standards.

In the scheme Malcolm Payne Group designed for Michael Blanning Trust Housing Association in Moseley in Birmingham, a high level of amenity is provided for residents of the seventy-two one and two-bedroom apartments. A spacious restaurant is served by a full catering kitchen, a separate bar provides an intimate meeting area. A larger versatile space, ‘the village hall’ can be arranged in different configurations for activities such as parties, events and aerobics.

The ‘public’ rooms open-up with sliding partitions into a wide internal street. An open atrium rises for the full height of the building, providing a visual link between the residential levels and the public areas. The social spaces are complimented by quiet areas in the form of library, meeting and well-being rooms, with a crafts room for hobbyists. A small shop, hairdressing salon and communal laundry serve residents and all the facilities are designed to be available to external visitors.

The apartments surround a large, landscaped courtyard with a terrace for external dining and a gazebo for shade. Ground floor apartments have their own terraces.

The apartments are all equipped with ‘smart technology’ with security and internal communications managed from a tablet computer screen in each apartment. Energy efficiency is provided by a communal heating system with an individual control unit in each apartment. Communal spaces are air-conditioned, powered by photovoltaic solar panels on the roof. Wide corridors are designed to accommodate buggies that can be stored and recharged on each floor and electric charging points are installed in the under-croft car park.

The scheme is managed from a central reception and office, and night staff are accommodated in self-contained studios.  A guest suite is available for visitors. The intention is to recruit students in medicine or care to provide night time cover, and to provide intergenerational activities to reinforce the vibrancy of the community.