The winner of the 2019 RIAI Award for Wellbeing, the expansion of Bon Secours Care village saw the creation of accommodation that gives the residents privacy and is compassionate to their needs as well providing communal therapy spaces to encourage the best possible quality of life.
The existing Bon Secours Care Village at Mount Desert was an award-winning facility of outstanding quality; however, it faced an increased demand for admissions and hence began the vision for the expansion. OCMA were approached to design a 36-bed extension along with expansions to the communal facilities to, and these interventions needed to fit seamlessly into the existing site and fabric of the building to create one single entity.
The building is located on a sloping site to the north of the Lee Road, a couple of miles west of Cork City. The site is approx. 3.6 hectares, set amongst a mature woodland. The most striking site attributes are the sloping topography, the wooded backdrop and the superb views of the river valley and city beyond. The site has a wonderful identity and provides an ideal environment for a modern bright and serene nursing home integrated into the landscape. The unusual geometry of the building was born of the specific site constraints and the aim to maximize the views and access to natural light.
The bedrooms are broken down into appropriate nursing units and enclose a shared garden courtyard which provides opportunity for therapeutic outdoor activity but crucially is also secure and sheltered.
The bedroom circulation space is interspersed with breakout seating spaces which provide important rest and social spaces as well as framing views through the courtyard to valley beyond. The elimination of dead ends within the existing building was a very important design decision in the context of a care of the elderly facility. This enables passive surveillance and provides a continuous walking route, a fundamental design element in dementia friendly design.
OCMA’s RIAI award winning design at the care village allied to its RIBA award for the original project (by Build Design Partnership) culminates in a truly remarkable facility of the highest quality.
LocationLee Road, Cork
ClientBon Secours Heath System
ServiceArchitectural, Assigned Certifier and Design Certifier
Area2,500 sqm
Value€8 million
StatusCompleted
