Country Court

Jan 27, 2023

A new Northamptonshire care home build will potentially see the proposed facility, named Olive Grove, situated on the same land as a tree nursery. Firm WGP Architects has announced that it is building the care home for company Country Court, with the project currently still at the planning application phase. The planned 68-bedroom property will see the care home occupy part of a site housing a tree nursery, with landscaped gardens and a public café separating the two. Story continues below Advertisement WGP Architects director, James Potter said: ‘The practice has built and is designing a number of care homes and as part of our evolving learning in the sector we have invested much time in trying to find ways of how to improve how we do this. “Making homes more visible and better integrated with their surroundings could be a part of the solution. “For the most vulnerable residents, experiencing advanced mental and physical decline, there is often a need for them to remain almost exclusively on campus where they are secure. “When this occurs, the care home becomes the backdrop to every aspect of their lives: sleeping, dining, socialising. There is a need for variation and nuances of daily life that offers familiarity and stability to all. “Visiting the shops, the hairdresser, seeing a film, doing some painting, gardening, music, et cetera, without the ability to leave the care home environment means there is a very important provision to be accommodated on site. “Without finding a way to offer this variation and enrichment to life, there is the sombre prospect of the care home becoming a place of solitude and incarceration. “The Olive Grove is a small step towards this betterment – allowing the care home grounds and outside world to benefit with shared facilities such as the onsite garden centre and café.”