Southlands Retirement Apartments – Roundhay, Leeds

Bowman Riley designed the reconfiguration of 19 nursing bedrooms within Southlands, an existing residential community for older people into eight luxury independent living apartments in the Leeds suburb of Roundhay.

Located in a conservation area, Southlands is a substantial period property that was built between 1893 and 1908. It was purchased by William Hemingway of Hemingway Brewery in 1912. From 1936, Hemingway’s daughter Ivy resided in the property with her husband, Captain Hugh Bowman, who was in the Yorkshire Regiment and was awarded the military cross during the 1st World War.

Southlands is a collection of self-contained retirement apartments that allow older people to lead independent lives and run their own homes without the worries of maintaining them. They also have the reassurance of round-the-clock care and support on-site. The one—and two-bedroom homes were created in direct response to demand for additional self-contained apartments on the site, which already contained 23 apartments.

Our work included redesigning the interior of the building to remove the staircase to additional areas of the apartments. This led to the need for a new sprinkler system.

The apartments were carefully designed to reflect the residents’ needs and mobility demands, enabling them to live independently. Each apartment showcased a unique character, with many featuring large windows offering views of the landscaped gardens. Due to the poor condition of the existing windows, 61 windows were replaced.