A NEWLY opened retirement home has earned an award for its design.
Cartwright Court was declared the winner by the Malvern Civic Society in its twentieth year of handing accolades for new and renovated buildings in the town.
The Church Street based retirement home, named after the architect who designed it but died before it was completed, impressed the awards committee with its ‘dignified exterior’ and three ‘Italianate towers’ as well as the ‘relaxed and spacious character’ of some of the rooms.
West Worcestershire MP Harriett Baldwin also commended the McCarthy and Stone development which includes 54 homes, as she met with the first residents to move in and called for more similar schemes in future.
She said: “There is more and more need for extra-care housing in the county offering retired people the chance to live with a level of care nearby whilst retaining independence.
“This sort of housing is increasingly popular with couples where one partner needs extra support but they want to stay living together.”
Cartwright Court was announced the winner of the award ahead of the renovated Holywell Chapel which used to be a preparatory school but has now been transformed into a modern home.
Fives court, an apartment formerly used for the handball game of ‘fives’, also missed out.
John Dixon, chairman of the Awards Committee at the Malvern Civic Society, said: “We were faced with an impossible task. How could such totally different projects be compared?
“Our hearts were inclined to choose little Holywell Chapel with its intoxicating mixture of a glorious site, heritage preservation and inspired modern adaptation.
“Yet our heads chose Cartwright Court as the committee felt that it has already had a major influence in improving the character of a whole area of Malvern and that it would probably continue to do so for the next century.
“We congratulate the McCarthy and Stone team; construction director Tim Lightfoot, contract manager Richard Courtney and site manager Keith West.”
