Dorothy House Hospice, Bradford-on-Avon
New Day Care and Education Wings
Our client said….
We are very excited by this innovative design to improve and enhance patient facilities at the hospice. We are also grateful to our architects for being so patient with us during the design process and enabling our patients to have a real say in the final design.
The Story
Dorothy House Hospice provides palliative and end of life care to adults, their families and carers. Their catchment area covers an area of 800sq miles including Bath & North East Somerset, and parts of Wiltshire and Somerset. The hospice is located in the Green Belt, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and a Conservation Area
In 2003 the hospice decided that their existing facilities did not allow them to provide all the services they wished to, and O’LearyGoss Architects were commissioned to design an extension for new facilities.
We worked closely with the client, over a number of months, to develop a brief and a number of proposals. Our final design added two large extensions on to the existing building - a new Day Care and Education wing.
The design was developed and submitted for planning. The project was granted planning permission in 2004 with Planning Officer noting “a refreshing change from poor copies of period architectural styles”. On receipt of planning permission we assisted the client with documentation and visuals for their funding appeal.
The Education wing is traditional in appearance. The Day Care wing is an L-shaped glulam and timber frame pavilion, set at right angles to the original stone Edwardian building. The scalloped roof softens the edge of the building, with the exposed beams and rainwater chains linking it directly to the landscape.
The extensive use of timber internally creates a feeling of warmth and comfort.
The large extent of glazing brings light into the building and enables breathtaking views across the rolling countryside.
O’LearyGoss Architects remained as architect and lead consultant for the construction phase, also acting as project manager. Work started on site in August 2005, and was completed 14 months later.
The building was formally opened by Princess Anne in November 2006 and was awarded a BBC and RIBA Award for Best Public Building in 2006.
Project Team:
Client: Dorothy House Hospice
Consulting structural & civil engineers: Whitbybird
Consulting services engineers: TDP
Cost consultant: Hills
Contractor: E R Hemmings