How new Sunderland bungalow development will look after plans approved for site of Ryhope church

The new ‘community of specialist homes’ will ‘support improved health, wellbeing, and care’ for older people in Sunderland, according to the development team

The homes will stand on the current site of the landmark St Cuthbert’s Methodist Church in Ryhope, which was built in a quirky design in the 1960s, but is no longer used and is falling into disrepair.

Simpson Street-based architects and engineering practice Building Design Northern (BDN) was commissioned by Sunderland City Council to draw up the designs to help the local authority meet its five-year £59million Housing Delivery and Investment Plan (HDIP), aimed at delivering more ‘good-quality homes for older and vulnerable people in Sunderland’.

The plans were approved by a Sunderland City Council planning committee on April 17.

They will see the demolition of the distinctive green-roofed church to make way for six new bungalows, as well as two staff hubs, for use by adult social care workers who will be on-hand to provide support to residents.

The properties have been designed for people who require additional support and care, with the aim of ‘improving the everyday experience of the residents who live there, meeting their immediate and future needs’.

The team at BDN has worked closely with staff from the local authority to shape plans to ensure they’re absolutely fit for purpose and able to support residents with a range of conditions that impact on their mobility and health.

Dr Faye Sedgewick, architectural designer and KTP associate at BDN, said the team had worked closely with council staff to help shape the plans so they were ‘absolutely fit for purpose’ to support people with a range of mobility and health conditions.

“St Cuthbert’s has been designed to enable residents to carry out everyday activities within the home,” said Dr Sedgewick.

“The sympathetic design responds to both people and place, and seeks to support greater independence, enablement and life fulfilment for residents.

"The cluster of homes embed BDN’s supportive design principles and ethos to ensure that the accessible homes are readily adaptable, enabling and connected to the surrounding community.”

Gerry Taylor, executive director of health housing and communities at Sunderland City Council, said: “We’re delighted to have commissioned a Sunderland firm to develop plans for new homes in Sunderland, that will improve the lives of those who live there.

“The HDIP is about supporting our more vulnerable residents, creating homes that are attuned to their needs, with design and assistive technology adaptations that support the wellbeing of people who live there. This scheme will achieve just that, breathing new life into a small area that is at the heart of an established community in Sunderland.”

Graham King, Director of Adult Services at Sunderland City Council, said: “This is yet another example of the strong collaboration between Adult Services and the housing team. The programme has been a real success with developments bespoke to individual customers and their care and support needs with technology-enabled care built into the schemes which allows people to live more independently in their own tenancy.”

The proposals comprise of a mixture of both two and three-bedroom shared and individual bungalows, arranged in a cluster and connected by a sheltered canopy to enclose the site and create a sense of community.

BDN’s work on the project has been bolstered by a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with Northumbria University, which has provided a unique opportunity for contemporary research to be embedded into the scheme’s architectural design.

Richard Marsden, managing director of BDN, added: “As a Sunderland firm, it is fantastic to be able to support the council in its goal of creating communities that raise the bar, delivering housing that enables residents to live independently and in comfortable, well-designed homes."