Construction Case Study

Background

As part of our Framework agreement with Leicester City Council we undertook the full design and build for an extension and refurbishment of an existing children’s care home. We received an outline of what they wanted to achieve and worked in collaboration to create an innovative living space for two brothers with Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy. The brothers resided within the care home and the brief was to refurbish their accommodation as well as create an additional space for their third brother, who also has DMD, to allow him to relocate and join his brothers in the Barnes Heath facility.

The project scope was to include all aspects of ‘Smart Home’ technology wherever possible and within budget. Specialist contractors were employed to build and install bespoke items.

Regular meetings on site with the client and design teams, as well as the end users, kept the project on track and ensured the design incorporated what the brothers needed to lead as normal a life as possible.

Furnished with an understanding of what the client required; the accommodation included ‘Smart Home’ technology to achieve a highly automated living space. The brothers were in wheelchairs, so the kitchen was fitted with rise and fall sink, worktops and hobs – all remote controlled to give them as much independence as possible. Doors within the living space were automated by using key fobs, with personally controlled access to bedrooms and all lighting, blinds, lifts and TVs were fully automated.

The bespoke extension now provides enough room for the third brother to join both Luke and Lochlan at the same home as he resided elsewhere.

Despite the project development and delivery taking place during COVID, the project was delivered to a very high standard and very well received by the client. Project delivery was on time, to budget.

Social Value

We were only too happy to help when the Barnes Heath Care Home manager mentioned that the boys’ current wheelchairs were due for replacement. The boys have Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, a life-limiting genetic condition producing muscle weakness and wasting, which has resulted in them both requiring the use of a wheelchair to meet their mobility needs.

Costing around £8,000 each, the electric wheelchairs the boys use have an average usage expectancy of four years when used every day and during the last few years, the boys’ chairs required over £3,000 of maintenance and repairs.

The chairs provide the boys a great deal of independence and allow them to participate in a much greater range of activities. Steve Moore and his construction team raised funds for the purchase, with £9000 being donated by CBES and £7000 coming from our construction supply chain partners.

The new wheelchairs for the boys were delivered and officially handed over to the boys at Barnes Heath Care Home at the conclusion of the project.