£7m Coventry development tops out
A new £6.8m development that will house older people in the centre of Coventry has topped out.
The project, which will be known as Bond’s Lodge, is the final piece of the jigsaw at Belgrade Plaza. It will be a three-storey building, featuring 45 self-contained one and two-bedroom apartments for the elderly.
Coventry-based Deeley Construction is working on behalf of Coventry Church (Municipal) Charities to carry out the project, which has been designed by Nicol Thomas Architects, and is expected to be complete in spring 2020.
It is being funded from the Coventry Church (Municipal) Charities’ own resources, fundraising, a grant from Homes England and a loan from the Charity Bank. The development has been awarded to Deeley Construction under the Homes England DPP3 framework.
Many of the partners involved in Bond’s Lodge – as well as John Crabtree OBE, the Lord-Lieutenant of the West Midlands – met for a traditional topping out ceremony which marks the moment that a building reaches its highest point.
Victor Keene MBE, dhairman of Coventry Church (Municipal) Charities, said: “We are very grateful to our Lord-Lieutenant for taking the time out to come and see how the project here is taking shape.
“There is a great deal of anticipation about Bond’s Lodge and it wouldn’t have been possible without the Deeley Group, who have been great partners on this project, which has been talked about for many years and also the support from Homes England.
“It is great to see the dream of adding this to our other Almhouses here in the city centre which provide homes for elderly people in Coventry.”
The Almshouses, now run by Coventry Church (Municipal) Charities, were founded in the early 1500s and today are sheltered housing schemes for elderly citizens in the city.
Since the Second World War, the charity has engaged in two major projects in Hill Street, the building of Bond’s Court in 1985 and the extension of Bond’s Hospital in 2004.
With the completion of Bond’s Lodge, the number of residents will have risen from 11 in 1506 to more than 150 in 2020.
Eleanor Deeley, deputy managing director of the Deeley Group, said: “It is great to see the progress that the team is making on what will be a very welcome addition to Belgrade Plaza, providing much-needed homes for older people in the community.
“It is the final part of what is a genuinely mixed-use scheme for Coventry and it’s fantastic to see it reach its highest point.”
