Hare Hill, Littleborough

The scheme provides 43 extra care units: 41 two-bed and two one-bed apartments, a treatment room, an office, a comfortable residents’ lounge, an attractive garden and a hobbies room; as well as a hair salon and a bistro. The hair salon is open to the local community, as is the bistro which provides subsidised meals and care and support for those that need it.  The scheme enables residents to lead independent lives with the reassurance that help is available whenever needed.  The Scheme includes a dedicated on-site care team together with a range of assistive technology tailored to residents’ individual needs.  It is run in partnership with Rochdale Borough Council, which has appointed a care provider.

We provided enhanced M&E performance duties with outline and coordinated designs completed to RIBA Stage 4a, vetted the contractors’ proposals and monitored the works throughout the construction phase. Additionally we provided handover duties assisting the client in understanding the philosophy of the engineering system design, how to operate the systems for maximum efficiency and guidance on the maintenance regime. As part of the initial design stage we advised on the thermal properties of the building envelope to achieve compliance with Part L2A of the building regulations, and at hand over we obtained all as-built information from the m&e subcontractors to enable us to complete and lodge the As-Built SBEM and EPC.

The heating is provided by high efficiency gas-fired boilers, with communal areas being heated via underfloor heating.

Each extra care unit has a heating interface unit, to provide heating controls in each individual unit.  A key innovation within this project was to use plastic pipes for the heating interface units, with no joints.  This provides the optimum safety for the residents and prevents leaks within individual units.  The heating interface units also enable each unit to have its own meter.  We also provided individual meters for the electricity.  RBH is therefore able to monitor the heating and electricity consumption within individual units, and provide individual bills for each resident.

This scheme won the top prize in the 2016/7 Rochdale Borough Design Awards.