Residential Architecture
In collaboration with Sunderland City Council, BDN are developing a flagship supported living scheme in Sunderland, as part of the city council’s five-year £59m Housing Delivery and Investment Plan (HDIP).
Located in Ryhope, the scheme consists of the demolition of St Cuthbert’s Methodist Church for the erection of a collection of high quality, specialist bungalows with 2 staff hubs, for use by Adult Social Care of Sunderland City Council. The Methodist Church is in a poor condition and has been unused for a number of years.
The properties have been designed to house over 55’s who require additional support and care. The scheme comprises of two and three-bedroom shared bungalows oriented to enclose the site and create a community feel within. The driving concept for the layout is to create continual opportunities for interaction between residents within the dwellings, and views outside.
Sunderland Council, in its role as a Registered Provider, aim to deliver 574 new affordable homes over the next five years. Wherever possible, the Council intends to deliver high quality affordable homes that are future-proofed for residents’ needs in forthcoming years.
BDN’s Knowledge Transfer Partnership with Northumbria University provided a unique opportunity for contemporary research to be embedded into the project’s architectural design, to enhance the projects innovation and impact. The 6 dwellings have been carefully designed to complement and reflect the existing streetscape, while also introducing quality contemporary architecture that strives to create a shared community for vulnerable peoples to thrive.
The ‘cluster’ of homes embed BDN’s supportive design principles and ethos to ensure that the accessible homes are readily adaptable, enabling and connected to the surrounding community.
Planning permission was granted for the scheme in April 2023. Read more here.