Last week Applethwaite received a prestigious Lancaster District Design Award for its Cove Orchard scheme in Silverdale, Lancashire.
Cove Orchard, set in the grounds of the Abbeyfield residential care home, comprises 14 retirement properties – eight two-bedroom bungalows, two three-bedroom dormer bungalows and four two-bedroom apartments – which offer a residents’ lounge and communal gardens with spectacular views across Morecambe Bay.
Offering assisted living to enable retired residents to live independently in their own homes, the scheme has brought a pioneering development to the Lancaster area and the award recognises the project’s high standards of architecture in helping to preserve the district’s historic character.
The award was presented jointly to Applethwaite, the local Abbeyfield Society and Harrison Pitt Architects by Sir Christopher Frayling, former rector of the Royal College of Art and former chairman of the Arts Council, during an awards evening on 23 September at the LICA Building, Lancaster University.
Mike Henry, director of Applethwaite said: “The site at Cove Orchard was ideal for this type of scheme, filling a gap in the local property market for high quality retirement living and has proved popular, with only one apartment remaining. We’re thrilled that the project has been acknowledged in this way and are pleased to accept the Lancaster District Design Award.”
June Greenwell, an Abbeyfield Silverdale Society Trustee who led the Cove Orchard development team said: “We are absolutely delighted that Lancaster Civic Society has recognized the quality of the Cove Orchard design by giving this award. We are particularly pleased to have shown that it is possible to create a high quality but small retirement housing development that fits unobtrusively into this lovely rural area. It means that local retired people can stay near their families and friends and still be able to move into bungalows and apartments designed to meet their needs. We have already been approached by retired people from other villages wanting to know how they can do the same and look forward to seeing this kind of development happening in other rural areas”.
