Abbeyfield care home reaches construction milestone

A ‘topping out’ ceremony has been held to mark a milestone in the construction of The Abbeyfield Society’s Speedwell Court in Southampton.

The 80-bed home, which is being constructed by Castleoak, is set to open in April 2019.

Richard Virr, The Abbeyfield Society’s Director of Development, said: “We are delighted at how this project is progressing and that it has reached this key milestone, taking us one step closer to opening.

Story continues below

Advertisement

“We’re looking forward to getting this specialist development operational, providing the highest quality of care to the older people in Southampton, not only for our residents but to local people in the form of activities and events, and bringing up to 100 new jobs and volunteering opportunities to the local economy.”

The ceremony was attended by local MPs Mims Davies and Royston Smith, Gary Walker of the Dementia Action Alliance and Sion Rees, Operations Director – Construction at Castleoak.

Facilities at the home will include a hair salon, café and an on-site pub. The project aims to achieve the highly coveted Stirling University Gold accreditation for dementia care design.

“The Speedwell Court development was conceived by Castleoak,” said Doug Jones, Managing Director at Castleoak. “We identified the requirement for additional specialist care in Southampton, acquired the site, secured funding and the leasehold agreement with Abbeyfield. Our construction team is now making great progress on site – we’re on budget and programme to handover the scheme early next year.”