Laurel Croft – North Yorkshire
Yorkshire Housing
Embsay, North Yorkshire
Bowman Riley designed the complete remodelling of Laurel Croft, a 1970s sheltered housing scheme located in the North Yorkshire village of Embsay. After 40 years, the property was no longer a desirable place to live and under-occupied. The building had an inefficient layout and did not provide the level of facilities expected by today’s living standards such as en-suites and communal areas.
Yorkshire Housing needed to transform the existing building into modern independent living accommodation for older people. Unfortunately, the funding to demolish and rebuild a new purpose-built development was not available. Yorkshire Housing could, however, use its maintenance budget to refurbish the property substantially.
We led a consultation process with existing tenants, their families, the housing provider, the local community, and the parish council to determine the design brief and maximise the limited budget.
We created 21 self-contained one—and two-bedroom apartments specifically designed to meet the independent living needs of older people. Each apartment provides a compact and easy-to-maintain home with a living room, bedroom, wet room, WC, and fitted kitchen.
The development now provides a communal lounge in which to meet neighbours, friends and family and a beautiful conservatory.
The project involved the initial design and formal planning submission through to the completion of the works on site. The existing building was brought in line with current housing codes and standards.