Contractor announcement signals the start of building work on Gorleston dementia care home

Work is due to begin on a £6.9 million specialist dementia care home in Norfolk next week after building contractors were announced.

R G Carter will build the new state-of-the-art development on the site of the former Peterhouse Primary School on Peterhouse Avenue, Gorleston.

The specialist facility, designed by NPS Property Consultants, will provide 88 bedrooms and residents will have access to modern communal spaces, special gardens and improved assisted technology. The site will also include a treatment room, hairdressing salon and a number of quiet rooms.

The home, which will be managed by NorseCare, will house residents who currently live in smaller care homes in Gorleston, Great Yarmouth and Ormesby St Margaret. The three homes will close next summer when the new development opens.

Karen Knight, managing director at NorseCare, said: “We’re really pleased to announce that R G Carter will be undertaking the building work on Peterhouse and it’s hugely exciting that we’re about to take the first step towards building an excellent new care facility in Norfolk.

“The new home will provide a better quality of care and improved facilities to current residents in the east of the county, and those who will need specialist dementia residential care in the future.

“We realise that the move could be daunting for our residents but we’re consulting regularly with them and their families to ensure that the transition to the Peterhouse facility is as smooth as possible.”

NorseCare aims to provide more housing with care schemes and specialist care homes designed the people living with dementia. It will do this over the next 15 years by investing in and replacing its care accommodation.