Lorimer House Care Home

Juniper Green, Edinburgh

Lorimer House was built in 1896 to a design by local renowned architect Sir Robert Lorimer, the house was to be for his own personal use. Several decades ago the property was converted for use as a residential care home. The property is listed category C and exhibits arts & crafts detailing with harled walls and red clay roof tiles. In 2008 we were commissioned to refurbish the existing villa and design a care home extension in a sensitive manner that would enhance the setting of the listed building. Completed in 2010 the project comprises a two/three storey contemporary extension incorporating a partial lower ground floor taking advantage of the site topography. The existing home provided accommodation for 12 residents, the brief was to increase this to 40. The scale & massing of the extension have been cleverly designed to ensure that the new building does not dominate the existing building or the mature landscape setting despite the large amount of accommodation that it contains. The design of the external elevations incorporates smooth white render and zinc detailing to a contemporary design to provide a visual contrast to the existing house, and the apparent volume of the extension is reduced utilising a lowered roof eaves detail & dormer windows to the top floor bedrooms. A glazed single storey link containing a common main entrance for the home provides a clear separation between the existing house and the extension. The overall design composition is an excellent marriage of late 19th Century Arts &Crafts design with 21st Century contemporary architectural design.

Role: Project Architect and Lead Consultant
Client: Lindemann Healthcare
Status: Completed 2010