Llay Supported Living Apartments

Ainsley Gommon Architects were appointed by First Choice Housing Association in 2017 to draw up proposals for a new build supported housing scheme at Eleventh Avenue, Llay, near Wrexham. The scheme was developed in partnership with Wrexham County Borough Council following the identification of housing need for 4no. residents with high support needs within the Llay area.

The ground floor provides 2no. one-bedroom apartments for residents with high support needs, with each apartment providing a light and airy open plan kitchen, living and dining area, alongside a bedroom and an assisted bathroom. A staff base is located between the two apartments, accessed via a door from each living room, giving staff a break out room, utility room and staff WC. The staff base also has its own front door, and links through to a shared communal staircase providing access to two further apartments on the first floor and a staff sleep-in room. All the apartments were carefully designed to accommodate the residents’ particular needs.

The neighbourhood of Eleventh Avenue provides a mix of two storey semi-detached properties and older persons semi-detached bungalows. The new development has been sensitively designed to be sympathetic to this, taking design cues from the surroundings whilst developing the massing and elevational treatment to minimise the scale and massing of the building. The palette of materials is simple and reflective of the surrounding area; a principally render finish complemented with contemporary fibre cement cladding. The use of sloping and vertical Velux rooflights help facilitate a lower eaves height and ensure the ridge height is in keeping with the surrounding properties.

Williams Homes (Bala) commenced construction of the timber frame building in March 2018 shortly after planning consent was granted. The building was completed and handed over to a happy client in January 2019 ready for the tenants to move in.