Premier Construction

Newton Mearns

Newton Mearns
Written by Roma Publications

Newton Mearns – A new facility for the elderly

Newton Mearns

Designed for the elderly, Mearns House brings a brand new residential facility to Newton Mearns, with a modern design and up-to-date amenities. The building has been designed with comfort, dignity and privacy in mind, to enable all residents to feel at home.

Michael Gillespie, Facilities Manager at Meallmore Ltd, told Premier Construction:

“The new build encompasses 68 bedrooms, laid out across two storeys. The building has been designed using dementia-friendly design, and has effectively been split into six different ‘houses’ (areas of the building). Each house is designed with its own identity, equipped with a living room, kitchen and dining facilities, and all bedrooms have en-suite wet floor shower rooms. Each area also has an assisted bathroom for those who wish to enjoy a bath rather than a shower.

“Quiet zones are situated at the end of corridors with seating and extensive glazing, looking out onto the gardens.

“Other facilities are laid out on a central ‘street,’ including hair dressing, a café, a bar, an activities room, and a cinema.”

Works began onsite in January 2015 and were finalised in May this year. Marshall Construction acted as the main contractor on the project, with architectural company Bracewell Stirling Consulting responsible for the architectural aspects. The total investment in the project was in excess of £7m.

The traditional block structure building features a lot of glass, elements of steelwork and a concrete tiled pitched roof. Walls are finished in wet dash render with elements of reconstituted stone and Eternit board cladding.

Underfloor heating allows residents to feel the warmth under their feet and hot water is supplied through an environmentally-friendly Biomass system.

Newton Mearns

Michael added:

“A large amount of effort has gone into the exterior of the care home and the garden design. All of the ground floor bedrooms have their own doors that lead out onto the gardens, providing residents with direct access to outdoor space.

“Trying to keep a step ahead of the market is always a challenge. We just try to focus on designing comfortable spaces that are really nice to live in. Trying to get the balance between privacy and social integration was a challenge but I believe we have achieved this.

“We were working on this design a long time before we got to site and it is great to see it all finally come to fruition. I think it will be a fantastic facility for the community, and community engagement is important to us from an operational point of view. This is the next step in care home design and it has been a great project to work on.”

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Roma Publications