Jakes House Great Abington

A purpose built home designed in a rural location to cater for the needs of a family member with Cerebral Palsy.

Brief

Having been diagnosed with a severe form of Cerebral Palsy from birth, Jake requires full assistance in moving around to complete basic daily tasks. He is fully reliant upon a wheelchair, hoist or standing frame in all aspects of daily living.

The home therefore needed to be very spacious to allow unhindered movement around furniture, with hoist access to his bedroom, en-suite, hydro pool, and family spaces.

Key Challenges and Successes

Being in a rural location, there were tight planning restrictions governing the size and bulk of the dwelling, which conflicted with the family’s brief.

Procurement Route

To be decided.

Service Provided

Concept plans, Principal Designer duties, planning application, discharging planning conditions, working drawing package.

Design Process

As Jake is not sensitive to noise open plan spaces were possible. Being mainly single storey we were able to design a vaulted ceiling to the main living spaces to provide plenty of volume, with natural light introduced through rooflights and large glazed gable ends.

In order to relieve strain on the family and carers and extensive hoist system is required for Jake to enjoy all areas of the house. Despite there not being a flat ceiling to most of the house we have integrated a hoist system discreetly into the design, providing Jake access from the front door to his bedroom , en-suite, activity room, main living spaces and hydro-pool.

In order to overcome tight planning restrictions in terms of bulk and scale, we were able to negotiate with the planners that some of the accommodation could sit behind the garage, reducing visual impact.

"We have worked closely with the team at Gary Johns Architects to provide a fantastic design for our new family home. Our son has cerebral palsy and the design has been carefully considered to ensure his needs have been fully catered for into the future. We were not only given 3d visuals, but a file we could open on our iPad to fully explore the design in three dimensions. Our home now has planning permission which was a challenge in itself. Gary Johns Architects are now progressing the working drawing package, working with the occupational therapist and other professionals to see the original vision through to completion. We are thrilled with the design and the process so far and would happily recommend Gary Johns Architects to other families."

Ian Ledbury