L&M Healthcare has won the 2022 Knight Frank Care Home Design Award for its Kitwood House in Rudheath, Cheshire that opened in August.
The 68-bed dementia care home features a number of themed interactive areas that have been designed into the build in order to help residents engage and to promote positive daily life experiences.
The independent judging panel for the award comprised Mike Parsons (founder of Barchester Healthcare), Bhavna Keane-Rao (managing director of BKR Care Consultancy), Andy Porter (business development director at Coutts), Paul Hammerton (managing director of Walter Thompson) and Vernon Baxter (managing director of Investor Publishing).
Other shortlisted finalists for the award included HC-One’s Fosse Way View Care Home in Bingham, Nottinghamshire and Hallmark Care Homes' Hutton View.
“Kitwood House is the culmination of 10 years’ experience in designing, building and operating L&M Healthcare’s purpose-built nursing homes,” said L&M Healthcare managing director Jeanne Davies.
“We were absolutely delighted to learn that our work has been independently judged as the winner. Myself and my entire team are absolutely bursting pride. It is an amazing place, there is nothing like it and it has truly captured people’s hearts, minds and imagination,” she added.
Kitwood House facilities include a Pullman-style railway carriage with ticket office, newspaper kiosk and waiting room.
The train is a RemPod railway carriage with LED window display that projects the sights and sounds of a moving train.
Architects and builders of Kitwood House, Dynamic Building Solutions have also included infection control measures such as no-touch access, face recognition and temperature screening.
If the system detects a raised temperature that is above normal range, it will deny access.
If anyone in the building develops a high temperature, they will be immediately identified and sectioned off to be tested for infection.
In addition, all bedrooms have silent UV units that cleanse and purify the air to further reduce the risk of spreading airborne viruses.
