Stunning views from the top of Hertfordshire County Council’s newest care home development were captured at a topping out ceremony today (Friday 30 August).
The new care home, built on the site of the former Little Furze primary school site in South Oxhey, is a key part of the council’s substantial investment in delivering high quality, innovative adult care in the county.
The topping out ceremony marks the completion of the roof, which is a significant milestone in the care home’s development. Once completed, in Spring 2025, residents will benefit from beautiful, natural surroundings alongside high quality nursing care.
Attendees at the event included representatives from the county council, the main contractor – Kori Construction and local councillors. They got a unique bird’s-eye view of the stunning backdrop the care home residents will enjoy and saw how seamlessly the building fits in with its surroundings.
Furzewood Lodge will include 75 bedrooms, with integrated assistive technology to enable greater independence. Residents will have direct access to garden space from every floor, along with external courtyards, communal spaces and a café to encourage social interaction.
Tony Kingsbury, Executive Member, Adult Care, Health & Wellbeing at Hertfordshire County Council spoke at the event. He said:
“This new home will enable us to provide nursing and dementia care to people with high frailty in their own community. This new development, along with a proposed new Day Service and extra care housing locally, demonstrates how we’re investing here and making sure that older people can access the support they need to remain connected within their local community, and live as independently as possible.
“Our approach to sustainable development in South Oxhey, working closely with Three Rivers District Council, is not only helping us to meet rising demand in adult care, but it’s also helping us to provide employment opportunities for local people. We’re committed to working with partners to create well-designed communities with a good balance of jobs, homes, services and amenities and this new care home is a shining example of what can be done when partners work together.”
The multi-million pound, three-storey care home has been designed by RDT Architects, with sustainability at its heart. It is set to achieve a high standard of environment accreditation (BREEAM ‘very good’), will be powered solely by electricity and will have extensive solar panels installed on the roof.
Kori Construction is also on course to deliver around £4.5m of economic and social value as part of the project, including the creation of four new jobs, delivering 59 hours of employability support to young people, providing 23 weeks of experience for apprentices, implementing a green travel plan that has saved nearly 33,000 miles in car journeys, and reusing nearly 16,000 tonnes of materials on site, resulting in 98% of waste being diverted from landfill.
On top of this, the business has provided a further £2,500 to support projects that aim to address one or more of the following locally:
- Tackle disadvantage or social exclusion
- Enhance and promote the wellbeing of local people
- Reduce local crime
- Increase biodiversity and wildlife in the community
- Take action to tackle climate change.
Elaine Kendall, Head of Sustainability and Communications at Kori Construction said reaching the topping out ceremony was a source of pride for the company.
She said: “We’re very proud of this development because not only will it provide fantastic later life care in a relaxed and tranquil setting for residents, it has also enabled us to make a real difference in some of the communities surrounding the scheme.
“As a business, Kori Construction truly believes projects of this nature can be a force for good, not just for the end users, but on a far wider scale.
“We bring this approach to all the developments we’re involved in and South Oxhey is certainly no exception. Reaching the topping out ceremony is a fantastic milestone in the build process, and we’re delighted to see the development move closer towards completion.”
