History of the Home

Cornford House

Lee Bishop, Managing Director of Chessmann Consulting first met Ernie Graham in 2005 to talk specifically about the redevelopment of Cornford House which had just received planning permission to replace the existing care home with a new state of the art care facility providing 32 nursing care beds, 18 dementia care beds and 26 self-contained care suites.

The particular challenges of this development were quickly identified and involved the development in a conservation area with some particularly onerous planning conditions and the phased redevelopment allowing the existing care home to operate during the construction process.

The need for a phased development was agreed whereby phase 1 would involve the construction of the new core entrance area and bedrooms to accommodate the staff and residents of the existing care home. Following completion and registration of phase 1, the old home was decanted and demolished, making room for phase 2 of the new development works.

Chessmann was subsequently appointed to act as Employers Agent and Project Manager for the scheme and a competitive tender process was initiated inviting a series of contractors to tender for the works under a Design and Build contract.

The project comprised of a total of 76 beds/suites over four floors with a gross internal floor area of approximately 3700m2 . Due to level differences across the site, the home is stepped and retaining structures have been employed between the two phases. The site is extensive covering several acres requiring high quality external works and panting schemes.

Following the appointment of the successful contractor and the pre commencement planning conditions discharged by another of the team members and Architect, Carless Adams Partnership, works commenced on site in July 2006. The works were programmed to take a total of 82 weeks for all phases.

The Phase 1 construction works went well and pretty much to plan and Phase 1 was opened in June 2007. Following a period of commissioning, the existing residents and staff were moved across into the new home. The existing building was then demolished to make way for the phase 2 development.

Phase 2 commenced and again proceeded well and in line with the programme and was ultimately finished on time and within budget. The scheme was a great success and was the first of Graham Care’s redevelopment schemes and laid the foundations for the future projects. Each of the primary team members have remained consistent on each project and have played a vital part in the success of the Graham Care Development Programme.