Belmont View

This popular Residential Care Home just to the North of Hoddesdon is operated by Quantum Care on behalf of Hertfordshire County Council. When HCC first decided to externalise the care of the elderly in the county some 18 years ago the directors of Hester Architects worked closely with Quantum and HCC to develop a masterplan for a new home which at the time was quite revolutionary. The concept of building 15 bedroomed group living wings was new to the UK and was so efficient in plan and to operate that we ended up designing a dozen or so 60 bed homes around the County.

The Scheme

This led to a strong partnership between Hester Architect's directors, Quantum Care and HCC which lasted many years and included significant feasibility work on behalf of the County. Once all of the new homes were built the work naturally ceased and it was not until 2005 that the relationship was revived. We were asked to look at all of the care home sites across the County to assess their capacity for extension and advise on the most feasible option for each site.

This work ran in parallel with HCC's work on future demographics and has led to a series of proposed extensions across the County to meet future need. Belmont is the first such extension and provides 25 new bedrooms in small flexible wings of 5 beds.