Grace House is an award-winning, accessibly designed affordable housing scheme in St John’s Wood, Westminster which sets a new standard of affordable housing for over 55s in the capital.
We worked in collaboration with Central and Cecil Housing Trust (C&C) to bring forward the redevelopment of the site, previously Dora House, which was no longer fit for purpose. After being chosen in a competitive process to be the delivery partner we optimised the previous permission to provide two buildings: Grace House comprising 170 affordable homes and One St John’s Wood comprising 98 build for sale homes. Through optimising the design without significantly increasing the overall development volume, we were able to deliver additional affordable and private homes.
A true collaboration with C&C, Ryder Architecture and Motionspot, Grace House delivers adaptable apartments that exceed the Mayors’ space standards, specialist services for residents and a range of communal facilities, some of which are open to the wider public. By placing residents at the heart of every step of the process, the building has been designed to meet their unique needs, meaning that people can continue to live as independently as possible.
ACCESSIBLE, AFFORDABLE Homes
Grace House’s 170 apartments, including 17 wheelchair accessible apartments all feature level access to private balconies overlooking London and ambulant or wheelchair accessible kitchens and bathrooms. The wheelchair accessible apartments also feature dual bedroom access to aid carer support.
Importantly, Grace House as an entire building has been designed to be adaptable for future use through the development of two ‘clusters’ per floor. Each cluster can convert into a 10-bed registered care home, containing two interconnected units of five beds so that residents requiring higher levels of care can remain in the community as their needs increase. There is also potential to use three studio units and a rehabilitation room as a dedicated respite/rehabilitation space for short term stays to avoid hospital admissions and to enable timely discharge from hospital.
Status
Completed
Amenities
Communal Lounge, Exercise Studio, Roof Garden, Heated Winter Garden, Meeting Spaces, Quiet Zones, Sensory and Activity areas
Date
2022
Architect
Ryder Architecture
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