Introduction
The Blackwood Design Guide sets out to promote development of highly accessible homes for life. It contains a framework of principles and recommendations which optimise solutions at home for a wide range of disability, mobility, and complex health conditions.
The home may simply enable an individual customer to live independently without additional support, or it may be part of a housing with care development where support is required for customers to remain living within the community rather than in an institution.
The Blackwood House seeks to deliver effective use of space, light, and technology, to assist and encourage independent living in a contemporary and homely environment. The added bonus is that it is flexible and adaptable for the future as needs change over time.
We expect this Design Guide to change over time too and we are grateful to our customers and colleagues who give us their time and feedback to ensure it remains at the cutting edge of innovation, helping people to live their life to the full.
It has long been established that the homes that people live in form one of the key contributors to their health and well-being. This is amplified for people with a disability or mobility issue.
In 1996 it was estimated that around 144,000 households contained at least one person with a physical disability of which around 20,000 were wheelchair users. In 2014 it is now estimated that 23% of adults in Scotland have a long term health condition or disability meaning that there is an ever growing and substantial need to provide suitable housing with the flexibility to meet these needs. Added to this many of us will live longer with age related mobility issues and the need for highly accessible and flexible homes becomes a mainstream requirement.
This is echoed by the drive from Scottish and UK governments to maximise the time people live independently in their homes.
The Blackwood House Design Guide has been developed in order to provide a framework of principles and recommendations to maximise the effectiveness of the home in providing solutions to the various levels of disability and complex health conditions that exist.
Fundamentally the Blackwood House seeks to provide solutions to this challenge through effective use of space, light and technology to help and encourage independent living while moving from the clinical feel of traditionally adapted properties to a contemporary and homely environment.
Above all, The Blackwood house is to be a home that continues to allow people to pursue the pleasures of life today, while feeling secure that their home can adapt to their future needs.
Key Points
- 2 & 3 Bedroom flats all at one level and 4 bedroom houses
- Flexible enough to accommodate site specifics
- Competitive space standards with an acceptable range of size and affordability
- Affordable warmth through thermal performance
- Components will be a mix of best practise and current specifications to deliver the best products available
- Timber construction type and relevant details
- Digital connectivity incorporating the latest in smart home systems including Blackwood’s very own CleverCogs platform
The Blackwood House design guide will be an evolving guide that will be updated and iterated regularly in line with latest construction methods and evolving technology. The guide will principally be a live, interactive digital offering available through our website for all to view.
