New nursing home welcomes first residents

COLCHESTER, U.K. - June 18, 2013 - PRLog -- The home for up to 90 residents was designed by internationally renowned architect Richard Pollock, Director of Architecture at the Dementia Services Development Centre at Stirling University and one of the founding partners of Edinburgh-based architecture firm, Burnett Pollock Associates.

The first residents were recently welcomed to Cairdean House and life at the home is getting underway with regular afternoon tea events in the Terrace Café and coffee afternoons for residents and their relatives too.

The unique design of Cairdean House sees residents living in nine self-contained flats, each with its own kitchen, dining room and lounge areas.

Features include fireplaces in lounges and retro-style fittings such as older telephones or ornaments from the 1940s to 1960s, which more closely reflects the style of a former family home.

Smaller dining rooms and open kitchens also help the flats retain a family home feeling, whilst clear signage and specially designed doors, windows and furniture ensure residents are able to move around the home with confidence.

Helen Kinnaird, home manager at Cairdean House, said: “We have been very pleased to welcome the first residents to Cairdean House. It is a superb facility, designed specially to meet the different needs of the people who will live or stay here.

“We have provided a wide range of facilities in an accessible way, incorporating residents’ interests and memories which will enable them to maintain confidence and independence.”

To welcome their first residents, Helen and the Cairdean House team met each of them with bouquets of flowers tours of the facilities.

As well as retro features, the home includes facilities such as a spa, cinema and hairdressers as well as space for crafts, activities and fitness programmes.

Landscape architect Annie Pollock designed the home’s gardens, which have been created to meet a wide variety of needs.

Helen added: “The aim has been to blend practical considerations with homely detail and I think we have achieved that.”

“People living with dementia often find walking a calming pastime but at the same time they can find large spaces and noise intimidating, so Annie has incorporated interesting walkways and outdoor spaces into the garden design with a focus on creating tranquillity and quiet.

“Of course, the gardens have been created for all the residents, not just those living with dementia and I’m sure they will give hours of pleasure to everyone who lives here.”

Cairdean House offers a range of services from residential through to nursing care, specialist dementia care and respite care.