Supporting a growing town with a new community hub.
We recently delivered the new single-storey Lakers Short Breaks Care Centre for Surrey County Council — a purpose-built facility for working age adults with learning disabilities and/or autism. The centre provides vital short-break accommodation, offering people time away from their home environment along with access to support staff who can help them build new skills, meet others, engage with the community and take part in social activities.
Set within a peaceful woodland location south of Goldsworth Park Recreation Ground and Goldsworth Park Lake, and only 1.5 miles from Woking town centre, the centre sits in an environment that helps promote calm, comfort and wellbeing for its users. The site is fully accessible and includes eight wheelchair friendly ensuite bedrooms, communal staff facilities, internal courtyards and a generous garden space. Stays typically range from a single night to two weeks, so the building has been designed to feel welcoming, comfortable and homely and not institutional.
Sustainability is a core part of the design philosophy. Lakers has been developed to meet LETI embodied carbon guidance to reduce carbon and a fabric-first approach. The material strategy prioritises products with low embodied carbon and high recycled content, including timber clad internal walls, Electric Arc Furnace manufactured steel, and concrete with increased cement replacement. These material choices ensure the building performs well environmentally while maintaining a warm and natural aesthetic.
The result is a centre designed around human needs — a place that offers comfort, dignity and opportunities for growth while ensuring long-term environmental resilience.
Squirrels Short Breaks Care Centre, Banstead, Surrey
Following the great success of Lakers Short Breaks, we were appointed by Surrey County Council on Squirrels Short Breaks Care Centre, a twin facility to Lakers, located in Banstead. Like its sister building, Squirrels provides short-break accommodation and access to support staff who help users build confidence, independence and social connections.
The centre mirrors the same calming, accessible and nature led approach as Lakers. It will include fully accessible ensuite bedrooms for wheelchair users, internal courtyards, outdoor garden spaces and a communal staff area. As with Lakers, stays vary between one night and two weeks, so the building is designed to offer familiarity, comfort and a sense of retreat.
Together, the two centres form part of Surrey County Council’s ongoing commitment to improving specialist short-break provision — delivering inclusive, accessible and sustainable environments that support people’s wellbeing in meaningful ways.
