Barrington Lane | Bournemouth War Memorial Homes
Four new homes for Bournemouth War Memorial Homes
Barrington Lane is a garage site redevelopment for Bournemouth War Memorial Homes, delivering four new affordable homes for ex-service personnel and people facing disadvantage. Following the success of the original Poppy Lane scheme, Footprint Architects have worked with the charity on a second phase, built on the site of underused garages within the existing estate. The project continues the charity’s legacy of community support, in place since 1947.
Poppy Lane provided five two-bedroom bungalows and completed in August 2017. Barrington Lane extends the same model on the same estate, and was completed in 2026.
Sustainability and Social Value
The Barrington Lane scheme builds on Footprint’s commitment to sustainable, people-focused design. Although compact, the homes are designed to be warm, light-filled and efficient. The design follows a fabric-first approach, with low-energy measures integrated from the earliest stages, and includes renewable technologies such as photovoltaic (PV) panels and air source heat pumps – aligning with the charity’s and Footprint’s shared ambition for sustainable, future-ready homes. Maintaining and enhancing the outdoor communal areas supports not only social sustainability but mental wellbeing.
Context and Place
The homes are arranged around central, shared gardens, reinforcing the charity’s ethos of connection and collective wellbeing. All living spaces are oriented to face these communal outdoor areas, creating strong visual and social links between residents and their environment. The gardens are maintained by the charity, ensuring they remain welcoming and well-kept.
The materials draw from the local palette – masonry and timber – ensuring the new dwellings sit naturally within the estate. New pedestrian and vehicular access, on-site parking and connections to existing utilities were carefully incorporated. Root protection areas for existing trees were considered from the outset, ensuring minimal environmental disruption.
People and Communities
Bournemouth War Memorial Homes provides housing to those who have served or faced disadvantage, offering safe, supportive environments at below-market rent. Barrington Lane delivers four new homes, responding to a growing demand for smaller, accessible units tailored for singles and couples.
Each home is single storey and step free, continuing the accessibility principles established at Poppy Lane and allowing residents to remain in their homes as their needs change.
The project embodies how small scale, context sensitive development can deliver long lasting community value. By extending an established, trusted model of housing, the scheme not only provides high quality, affordable homes but also reinforces the social fabric of the area.
Garage Site Redevelopment on an Established Estate
Footprint Architects developed a sensitive, context-aware design strategy that places community and comfort at its heart. The homes are arranged to mirror the rhythm of the existing estate, carefully integrating with neighbouring buildings and green spaces to enhance the site’s coherence and sense of place.
Redeveloping a garage site within an established estate meant that utilities, drainage and highway access were already in place, reducing the groundworks and infrastructure a new site would have required. The layout was set out around the existing mature planting rather than clearing it.
Named in honour of a former resident who cared for the gardens and allotments at Bournemouth War Memorial Homes, the homes further strengthen the estate’s identity of bungalows ‘in the gardens’. As with Poppy Lane, this second phase involved the demolition of underused garages to make way for inclusive, community-focused housing.
Considering a similar site?
If your organisation owns underused garages or awkward parcels of land within an existing estate, and you are considering whether they could support housing, Footprint Architects would be pleased to discuss. Get in touch via the below:
hello@footprintarchitects.co.uk
Or gives us a call on 01202 818 966
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Get Your Project Off The Ground
Get in touch today to kick-start your project. Let us know a few details and we’ll be in touch to discuss bringing your vision to life. Or call us on 01202 818 966