Primrose Street, Alloa

Campion Homes were the principal contractor on behalf of Kingdom Housing Association in the transformation of a derelict town centre site with the creation of 60 brand new dementia friendly designed apartments.

Having a positive impact on the area, this development assists new tenants to continue independent living.

The project consists of one- and two-bedroom common access apartments for intergenerational living and the highest level of dementia accreditation whilst reinstating the urban fabric on a substantial brownfield gap site.

Developed over a series of workshops, involving stakeholders and advisors, including Architecture & Design Scotland, and Dementia Services Development Centre, the result is a unique building which has transformed the area while addressing the requirements of residents of all ages with varying needs by adopting good design principles.

A linear layout with street frontage on three sides encloses private shared garden space to the rear, almost every apartment benefitting from dual or triple aspect.

The building is relatively straightforward to orientate yourself in through sympathetic use of colour and dementia friendly signage, a key Dementia design requirement, and effectively creates a single street terminating at each end with a cluster of apartments, a stair and lift. The cloistered access decks, together with a series of internal spaces on each level, have simple bench seating providing social spaces to encourage and enhance tenant interaction.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION BROCHURE

As well as making effective use of a vacant brownfield site, the design team strived to encompass best practice for sustainable design, construction, and energy use wherever possible, and a strategy for future installation of air source heat pumps was included. Silver Sustainability level and an enhanced energy rating were achieved.

Achieving Gold Standard dementia accreditation, the building has been designed to accommodate wheelchair requirements wherever possible and includes a high level of flexibility. Automatic opening doors, mobility buggy charging facilities, semi-open plan flat layouts, full height windows, wet shower rooms, and future hoist requirements including demountable partitions were all built into the brief. Simple but crucial measures ensure that future alterations and adaption to suit specific tenant’s needs will be kept to a minimum.

The building provides high level air tightness and insulation, significantly reducing heat loss and running costs. Low energy light fittings and water efficient sanitary fittings were used.

Large areas of glazing provide generous levels of daylighting and high-performance windows and doors were fitted. EV panels are fitted to offset communal power and provisions are in place for future electric vehicle charging points.

Two clay wall tile mural features, preserved from a previous local building, were incorporated into the brickwork of the new development.

Biodiversity is prevalent in the landscaping design, including rich and varied planting, with scent and attraction for birds to provide sensory pleasure. Planting provides privacy for residents and raised timber planters with seating provide a pleasurable aspect within the town context.

The building has been awarded the 2022 Scotland’s Towns “Town Centre Living award”, and as part of the “Living Alloa” project, was the winner of the 2022 SURF awards in the “Improving Scotland’s Places” category.

Kingdom Housing Association also won the "Excellence in development for affordable housing" award at CIH Awards 2023 for this development.

Primrose Street won the Silver Award at the Scottish Design Awards 2023 in the category of "Architecture: Affordable Housing"

2024 saw the development winning the "Medium Development of the Year" award at the Homes for Scotland Awards as well as receiving the "Excellence in Accessibility & Inclusion" award at the Scottish Home Awards.

Townhead House demonstrates that forward looking flexible design to cater for a variety of needs does not necessarily need to be ground-breaking but can come from a genuine collaborative approach and attention to detail.

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