Bradbury House in Godalming, Surrey, offers a higher level of tailored support for residents, most of whom have challenging disabilities in addition to their epilepsy. Bathrooms that allow for wheelchair access and full carer assistance were therefore of the utmost importance when developing the new facilities.

The twelve bathrooms in Bradbury House were carefully planned to include the latest thinking and technology in supported bathroom design.

As part of their research, senior care staff from The Meath visited the test centre used by Pressalit Care at Brunel University, where they were able to determine their specific requirements by re-creating different layouts and mocking up exact room dimensions. This enabled them to check thoroughly how effectively their design proposals would work in the flesh, before finally committing to them. They could see at first-hand how a bathroom layout can be enhanced using both horizontal and vertical adjustment for the most efficient and effective use of space.

As a result of the visit, each bathroom at Bradbury House has been fitted with the Pressalit Care PLUS track system, which sets new standards in accessible bathroom design, with new and improved height and horizontal adjustment.

The wall-mounted track allows easy movement of individual bathroom elements such as wash basin, support arms and shower seat at The Meath. Horizontal adjustment of these items provides valuable, additional extra space for both wheelchair access and for carers to work safely and effectively without compromising movements. The vertical track enables simple height adjustment, by means of an easy to operate grip lock, optimising user functionality, safety and comfort.

The shallow ergonomic form of the wash basin gives seated users the leg-room and manoeuvrability that they need underneath the basin, while the specially shaped support arms provide a sense of security for seated users, also facilitating the task of transferring to and from wheelchairs. The versatility of the PLUS system means that support arms can be folded up flat against the wall when not in use to create more space, and detached quickly and easily if not needed and/or re-deployed elsewhere, according to need.

The Meath have opted for great use of colour, using brighter more vibrant colours such as lime green, orange and purple as well as more traditional white, anthracite, red and dark blue, giving each room its own individual theme. Colour in bathrooms provides an important and invaluable aid in helping with daily routines, improving colour contrast and definition especially for many older or visually impaired users.

Andrew Lowndes, UK Sales Manager at Pressalit Care says, “The opportunity to visit the Pressalit Care Test Centre proves very useful, and helps clients such as The Meath really crystalize their thoughts and shape their decisions when choosing the best bathroom layout to suit their needs.”

Bradbury House includes a whole raft of assistive technology, aimed at empowering and enabling residents to take greater control over their day to day environment.