Castlegate Care Home Case Study
In 2009/2010 we began work on the Castlegate Care Home. The project entailed building a 70-bed new care home. The project wanted to balance the privacy of its residents but also provide a warm and inviting environment, including shared and private courtyard gardens. The building was to also bring together the surrounding area which was disjointed with both commercial and residential developments around it. With all these stipulations in mind, everyone involved knew the finish had to be exceptional.
During the build, we had the pleasure of taking part in the judging of a bricklaying competition in Ystrad Mynach College. We were happy to see the enthusiasm of the students and one, in particular, stood out. Marcus Wintle, who at the time was Student of the Year, won the competition, and following his success, we approached Marcus and invited him to join our company as an apprentice. Consequently, Marcus went on to work with us and also win the Welsh Apprentice of the Year earning his stripes on this project.
The build was a traditional masonry build with a Staffordshire blue engineering brick and took almost a year to complete. The dedication and attention to detail adhered to by our workforce were fantastic and as a company, we could not have been prouder of the finished product. The care home was completed on time and on budget. This was extraordinary considering the working conditions at the time, our operatives worked through one of the worst winters with heavy rain and strong winds so achieving this finish was a huge achievement.