PERSPECTIVE Dublin has completed two significant residential healthcare projects, with a third about to start on site in the coming weeks. In Kenmare, Co. Kerry, a Design & Build competition-winning design for a 42-bed Residential Healthcare Unit for the elderly, located on an elevated 1 Ha site enjoys spectacular views across a valley below to distant mountain ranges. Three separate care units – a Mental Health Day Care Centre, a 22 bed household (with 6 bed Dementia Unit) and a 20 bed household with integrated Day Care Centre – are catered for. The facility is based on the ‘Household’ model, with clusters of private bedrooms grouped around living and dining spaces – all focused on surrounding landscaped gardens and courtyards, tended by the residents. In Dublin, a new 17-bed Community Residence provides a home to low-risk mental health patients in the process of being reintegrated into society. The ground floors are given over to living spaces with shared kitchens that open to private gardens while bedroom suites are located overhead. These are highly sustainable dwellings with very high levels of airtightness and insulation. The site is located within an established residential neighbourhood to aid the process of integration and the buildings are domestic in character, forming a ‘terrace’ of five and seven bedroom hostels respectively. Each has its own entrance hallway and staircase, and all units are connected, at ground level, to facilitate ease of staff movement between them. Construction work is also soon to commence on the redevelopment and extension to an existing private nursing home in Dublin. The development will increase the current capacity for residents within the nursing home from 87 to 120, and will ensure all accommodation provided is in line with best practice design for residential healthcare. Works will involve significant demolition and the construction of a substantial new building, arranged around a new landscaped courtyard, forming connections with the existing three-storey structures. The ‘quadrangle’ form facilitates ease of internal circulation and wayfinding for staff and residents. The bedrooms are planned in a series of ‘households’ at each level. Bedrooms provide single occupancy and ensuite bathrooms for all residents. Dining and sitting rooms, along with nurse stations for each household are planned centrally with views and direct access to landscaped spaces.