PTE’s proposal will provide 72 extra care units on a former MOD site in Bath. This new development will deliver much needed care and up-to-date homes for local older people, and will be complemented by a landscaped entrance square.

Based on the ethos of the HAPPI report, co-authored by PTE for the Housing and Communities Agency, the scheme responds positively to the HAPPI principles and achieves the desired number of apartments with a generous amount of communal space.

PTE designed a civic park frontage which also provides a communal heart for the wider development. To counter an ‘institutional’ feel that such building footprints may imply, the park frontage is broken into four villas; two on each side of the main communal area.

Glazed communal spaces form vertical breaks, bringing light and ventilation into the internal corridors and providing additional relaxed communal spaces for residents and staff. The glazed links are set back from the building face to emphasise separation and define villa forms. A rubble stone wrapping and the roof design provide a further articulation, making connections in scale and proportion to the houses planned for the wider site.

PTE provided a complete service to tender, and is quality monitor for the delivery.