Barnet Learning Disabilities Services & Facilities

Client: Notting Hill Housing Trust and Higgins Construction

Role: Architecture

Value: £24.5 million

PRP along with Notting Hill Housing Trust and Higgins Construction won a competitive bid to reprovide all the day care and residential services and facilities for people with learning disabilities in the London Borough of Barnet.

This project involves the total redevelopment of all the councils existing Learning Disabilities stock in order to provide up to date facilities to meet current standards and user requirements well into the future. Notting Hill Housing have developed and maintain all of the new facilities with London Borough of Barnet providing the care services.

The entire project involves the development of nine sites, the majority of which contain all of the existing learning disabilities accommodation including: day care centres, training centres, care homes, hostels and respite accommodation. The remaining sites are either vacant or due to become available and then demolished.

At the bid stage a detailed assessment of each site was carried out and proposals were put forward in terms of design, care provision, phasing and programming. The key driver behind the proposals was the need to restrict the number of moves that decanting residents would have to make to just one. In addition; secondary to the needs of the service users was the requirement to find private cross subsidy funding for the new developments. To this end, sites were identified for the development of some 200 private and shared ownership residential units. The resulting proposals have now been agreed with the council, the service users and their relatives and involve a programme of work to be carried out over six years in four phases.

In order to achieve the highest standards and user satisfaction, a large number of consultation events have been organised including separate meetings with service users, care managers and relatives. Large scale coloured drawings detailing the proposals were put together and changes were made to the designs as a result of comments made.