A topping out ceremony has taken place at a £10.8 million care home and extra care scheme in Bradford being built by Derbyshire based Wildgoose Construction on behalf of City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council.
The event saw a construction on the build reach its highest point and among those attending were representatives from the council, Wildgoose Construction and the architects.
Two apprentices who are working on the site, Riley Wilson an apprentice joiner and George Caraman a technical apprentice, also attended the ceremony.
The build, on the site of the former Bronte Middle School in Keighley will provide 36 two-bed and 33-one bed extra care apartments with communal areas, lounge, activity room, restaurant, offices, hair salon, therapy room and offices.
Next to this will be a 50-bed resource centre, with five units of 10 bedrooms each with their own en-suite, providing a range of long and short term residential services.
Each unit will have its own lounge and dining area, there will also a gym to support recovery and independence. The scheme has been designed to meet the needs of individual physical abilities and incorporates many dementia friendly features.
Designed by Bradford architects Langtry-Langton, it is part of the council’s Great Places to Grow Old Scheme and will support a drive for older people to maintain independent living and is set to be completed by January 2019.
As part of the wider project, Wildgoose is also constructing 51 new homes in a contract worth £6.6 m on an adjacent site.
Made up of two and three bedroomed properties for affordable rent and three and four bedroomed properties for sale, the houses are a mixture of terraced and semi-detached homes that are also being built on behalf of the council.
Coun Sarah Ferriby, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council’s executive member for healthy people and places, says: “I am delighted that building work is progressing so well. Providing modern purpose built places where people can live life to the full and get the support they need in older age are vitally important to the future of our residents and support our ‘Great Places to Grow Old strategy’.
Coun Alex Ross-Shaw, City of Bradford Metropolitan District Council’s executive member for regeneration, planning and transport, says: “Schemes like this one providing a mix of housing for residents in later life alongside affordable homes for families work particularly well as they help people to build a real sense of community.”
Jonathan Wildgoose, executive chairman of Wildgoose Construction, says: “The staff and workforce at Wildgoose Construction are all putting in a huge amount of effort and commitment to ensure that the quality of the finished scheme will be to the highest standards.
“We hope that the end result will be a great asset for the local community and a credit to all those involved with the project.”
