LOCAL CARE HOME WINS PRESTIGIOUS NATIONAL DESIGN AWARD

Barchester Healthcare’s stunning new care home, Highfield, located in Barkston Ash, Tadcaster, has scooped the Best Exterior Design title at the Design Healthcare Awards. The home has been chosen out of hundreds of entries from across the entire country.

Highfield is a stunning property designed by talented architects, Harris Irwin Architects. The home opened in May 2024 and offers bespoke person-centred residential, dementia and respite care in delightful surroundings for 66 residents. The primary aim of the design was to create a home that unites beautifully within its surroundings of estate parkland and an adjacent Grade II-listed church. The building footprint creates an open courtyard space, landscaped in a manner reminiscent of country estate gardens. The design maximises the views of the surrounding rural landscape allowing residents, staff, and visitors to enjoy the outdoors whatever the weather.

The judges chose Highfield as winner because of the incredibly thoughtful way the property has been integrated into the existing landscape. They commented: “The architects have taken a traditional courtyard approach reminiscent of a country estate which looks to optimise the home’s location near to the listed church and surrounding parkland. The first-floor large balconies link the home to the outside space. There are also a number of secure courtyards from the ground-floor bedrooms. They have broken the gardens down into smaller areas which works really well. Clearly it is an outstanding setting to work with and they have been particularly careful to enhance the listed building rather than overshadow it. Views and outlook have been really important in every aspect of the design.”

Luke Owens, General Manager at Highfield added: “The whole team here at Highfield and all our wonderful residents are absolutely blown away to win this award, we are all so proud of our gorgeous home, it really is the most beautiful place to live and work. We’re all so grateful that our home has been recognised.”

Ben Garlick, Director at Harris Irwin, said: “The standard of entries in the prestigious Healthcare Design Awards is always impressive, and this year was no exception, with the bar raised even higher. The team at Harris Irwin Architects are honoured to have played such an important role in the design of Highfield and its success is testament to the strong partnership we have with Barchester Healthcare, working closely with them and the wider team to design and build exceptional care homes supported with our mutual passion, creative expertise, and experience in the care sector.”

Highfield is run by Barchester Healthcare, one of the UK’s largest care providers, which is committed to delivering high-quality care across its care homes and hospitals. Highfield provides dementia, residential and respite care.

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