Belong picks Pochin’s for £16m Chester care village

10 December 2018 14:30 Comments (0)

Pochin’s has secured a £15.7m contract with developer Belong to build a dementia care village on City Road in Chester, set to open in spring 2020.

Designed by architect Pozzoni, the four-storey development follows Belong’s ‘village model’ of six buildings of 12 suites, each of which provides specialist dementia and nursing care. There will also be 23 one and two-bed apartments for independent living which will be made available for rent or purchase.

Along with the apartments and care suites there will also be a central hub featuring a gym, hair salon, therapy rooms, and bistro, all of which will be open to the general public.

Pochin’s is due to complete the project in spring 2020, and will also carry out landscaping of the areas around Queen’s Avenue to improve the nearby canal-side conservation area.

Belong currently operates six villages in the North West and Pochin’s is on site at its seventh in Birkdale, Southport. This is due to open in Autumn 2019 and will join other sites in Atherton, Crewe, Didsbury, Macclesfield, Wigan, and Warrington. Belong also operates one site outside the North West in Newcastle-under-Lyme, Staffordshire.

Pochin’s chief executive Jim Nicholson said: “We have developed a strong working relationship with Belong, having completed their village in Newcastle-under-Lyme last year, and are delighted to be supporting them to bring their high-quality dementia care model to Chester. It comes on the back of numerous retail projects we’ve completed here in recent years, and it’s pleasing that we will be continuing to contribute to the city’s offering on a number of fronts.”

Tracy Paine, deputy chief executive at Belong, added: “We are delighted to be working once again with Pochin’s and pleased that we are now a step closer to contributing to the provision of quality services for people living with dementia in Chester.

“We have a number of exciting plans for the development and believe the city centre location will contribute to the creation of a vibrant community that is easily accessible to all.”