Arlington Manor

Client Hallmark Care Homes

Location Cambridge

Size 5452m2

Value £8.65m

Status Complete

Awards

Winner, Pinders Healthcare Design Awards 2019, ‘Best New Care Home’

Better planning delivers more for an ambitious client

The site came with planning permission for a 75-bed care home. But this fell short of what Hallmark wanted to achieve; our re-design gave them what they needed.

The vision for Arlington was to create a space where residents felt at home, where they could enjoy an active lifestyle and get to know their neighbours. Protecting the green belt was also a priority, and local planners wanted to see a design that enhanced the area.

The previous planning application only secured permission for a 75-bedroom home. As a sector leader with a reputation for spacious accommodation, on-site care and lavish facilities, Hallmark needed to do more; and that’s where we came in.

 

The Research

We researched the history of the village location and its architecture and listened to the people who live there. We consulted the planners and the local authorities Design Panel too.  And ran our own environmental analysis to inform us of predicted energy use, best orientation for shading and any over-heating issues.

Drawing on our long experience in the sector, we delivered a plan for 84 rooms – some of them double the size of what you’d find in a more conventional care home – and all without exceeding the building height constraints.

The finished product is everything you’d expect from Hallmark: an award-winning home providing dementia care and nursing services alongside high quality facilities includingactivity rooms, a hair salon, fine dining and a cinema.

The proposals link particularly well with the local palette of materials and elevation treatments, contributing to the enhanced local character created by recent developments.

Local planners were happy too. In an village where change tends to happen slowly and welcome additions are few and far between, Arlington Manor’s great achievement is that it fits right in.

Best new care home
Pinders Healthcare Design Awards 2019

Project team

Khosro Bashi

Managing Director

Chris Chelebi

Associate

Adrian Seres

Architectural Assistant

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