Blind Veterans UK is a military charity helping generations of vision impaired veterans overcome sight loss. Their home in Brighton was no longer fully meeting their needs so they purchased the former home of the RAF Benevolent Fund in Rustington with plans for refurbishment, seeing it as the perfect coastal location for their new centre for wellbeing. “Care hotel” was the main focus of the brief. The client wanted hotel level accommodation in a homely environment. At the same time, they wanted a design scheme which was relevant and relatable with touches to honour the past as well as look to the future.
The large communal spaces have been designed flexibly to support activities and events run by the charity throughout the year. Whilst tonal contrast is something we adopt in all our schemes, this was an absolute priority for this project ensuring that veterans could navigate the building independently. Art provided us with the perfect opportunity to celebrate the many wellbeing achievements of blind veterans, past and present as well as delve into their extensive archives. The unique metal sculpture in reception celebrating service men and women was crafted by Paul Badham. The centre features, café, lounge, dining room, activities room, sports bar/cinema, library, hair salon, therapy room and gym.
At HomeSmiths we are acutely aware of how important it is for those living in a care home to feel that sense of home. For many residents moving out of their family home and into a care environment for the first time, the change can be huge so how the home looks and crucially it makes them feel when they first come in, will make an enormous difference to how a resident settles.
