St Quentin is a family-run care provider operating 3 care homes in Staffordshire, England. In 2018, St Quentin acquired Langley House, a traditional house built during the Arts and Crafts movement in the early 1900’s.
Langley House required a full renovation and large extension to provide the 22-bed younger adults care home that it is today; for which Blueleaf were appointed to provide interior design, FF&E supply and fit-out.
The challenge
Converting a period property with such rich character into a care home for younger adults provided a unique challenge for the design team as it was important to respect the heritage of the property, whilst making it attractive to young adults as well as safe, functional, and compliant as a care home under the regulation of the CQC.
How we did it
Through thoughtful design and careful material selection, Langley House now pairs period character with a youthful colour palette to provide a bright and airy home for its young residents.
Wherever possible we made sure original features of the house were carefully restored and protected, whilst others had to be sympathetically replaced with modern alternatives.
For example, the client wanted to preserve a section of hand painted wallpaper from the Arts and Crafts movement, so we used ensured this was protected and we took the subtle patterns featuring blues, greens and more neutral colours as inspiration for the colour and materials for this first-floor lounge in respect of this outstanding piece of craftsmanship.
In another area, the original wooden flooring was going to cause infection control issues, so a wood effect luxury vinyl tile (LVT) flooring was chosen and laid in the same herringbone format to provide a realistic replacement that enabled safe and compliant cleaning and infection control.
In the original part of the home featured dark wood beams, panelling, and flooring so we offset this with lots of natural light from the large windows and chose an eclectic mix of bright yellows and deep blues for the furniture and furnishings to create a modern and contemporary feel that contrasted well with the dark wood colours.
We also chose a thoughtful selection of vintage and modern artwork to provide positive stimulation for the residents. We recognised that the individual residents would have unique interests so we selected a variety of prints, paintings, and photographs of scenery, cars, local landmarks in the past and present.
By bringing a youthful spirit to this period property, we created an environment that feels fresh and pulled together, but also warm and inviting for its residents.
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