Home with 1920s flair wins society award for outstanding design

Owner of Bluewater Nursing Home David Sheppard and Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Cllr Frank Jonas at the unveiling of the Best Re-use blue plaque

Picture: Allan Hutchings (160138-292) — Owner of Bluewater Nursing Home David Sheppard and Lord Mayor of Portsmouth Cllr Frank Jonas at the unveiling of the Best Re-use blue plaque Picture: Allan Hutchings (160138-292)

The Blue Water Care and Retirement Home in Kingston Road, Buckland, won design award for ‘best re-use’ by the Portsmouth Society.

Awards organiser David Baynes said the home, which specialised in caring for dementia sufferers, was a worthy award winner.

He said: ‘The design reflects the residents’ needs in terms of creating memories.

‘Dementia is a condition where people may not be up to speed on their present lives, but in their minds they can relive their childhood, so helping them relate to their past is very important.’

The home is located in a former Oddfellows centre built in 1926.

At the end of the 1990s it was a nightclub called the Regal Palace.

It has been decorated with Art Deco paintings and memorabilia and has 60 bedrooms, a library, cinema room, sensory garden, sensory beach room and salon.

Portsmouth Lord Mayor, Councillor Frank Jonas, unveiled the blue plaque from the Portsmouth Society at the centre, and praised its owner, David Sheppard.

Cllr Jonas said: ‘You can see the hard work that David and his team have put into this.

‘For someone who’s  seen the building in all three of its uses, I can say that it’s really innovative and shows thinking outside the box.’

Mr Sheppard said he was delighted with the award and was proud of team’s efforts creating the home, which opened a year ago after 12 years’ planning.

He said: ‘I always think, if it was my mum, what would I want? It’s got that personal touch.’

Other Portsmouth Society design awards were presented to Somers Town Central, for best new building; the National Museum of the Royal Navy’s Babcock Galleries for best restoration.

The Charles Dickens Fellowship won a ‘best landscape project award’ for the statue of the famous writer in Portsmouth’s Guildhall Square.

Mr Baynes said: ‘We always judge them the year after they’ve been occupied because we’re very interested in their success as functional buildings.

‘The awards help stimulate good architecture and planning decisions.’