NI Hospice Somerton House Expansion

Somerton House is located in the heart of the Somerton Conservation Area and although contemporary in design, the proposed scheme has been designed by Consarc Architects to sit comfortably within its surroundings.

Northern Ireland Hospice proposed to retain and redevelop Somerton House and demolish the adjoining ʻadd-onʼ buildings to make way for a purpose built state of the art facility providing patients with the best possible palliative care, and staff with much improved working conditions. The state-of-the-art facility will meet future needs in assisting the Hospice in delivering symptom management, end of life care and respite care for local people.

Gravis had to manage the impact of demolishing the existing buildings upon the Conservation Area. The new hospice building design had to be integrated into the Conservation Area. The project involved the retention, refurbishment and extension of existing building within the Conservation Area, in addition to the 'new build' aspect of the project.

During this process, we conducted a community consultation exercise to communicate details of the proposals to local residents and key stakeholders. We also consulted with local elected representatives to highlight the social benefits which would accrue from the purpose-built facility. Prior to achieving planning permission for this project, we ensured that any concerns raised by local residents and elected representatives were addressed by the project design team.