Seven years after a devastating fire destroyed the Beechmere retirement village in Crewe, plans have been submitted to redevelop the site, with fire sprinklers included as part of the proposed design from the outset.

In August 2019, fire spread through the timber-framed, unsprinklered extra care facility, which comprised 132 apartments for older and disabled residents. While no lives were lost, thanks to the successful evacuation of the building, more than 150 residents lost their homes. The impact extended beyond the loss of the building itself, disrupting residents’ independence and an established community.

Developer Avantage has now submitted an application to Cheshire East Council for a new extra care development on the site, which has remained vacant since the fire. Designed by Cassidy & Ashton, the proposed building would provide 75 apartments.

The new development would be smaller than the original complex, comprising a three-storey, U-shaped building with a mixture of one- and two-bedroom apartments. Plans also include communal lounges, a dining area, a wellbeing suite and other shared facilities. The building would be predominantly brick, with timber-effect cladding.

Importantly from a fire safety perspective, the application is supported by a detailed fire strategy which confirms that sprinklers would be installed throughout the development. The sprinkler system also forms part of the proposed fire safety strategy supporting a ‘defend in place’ approach.

Learning from Beechmere

The inclusion of sprinklers from the outset is a positive development and demonstrates the important role that active fire protection can play in safeguarding residents, particularly where occupants may require additional assistance to evacuate.

However, the proposals also highlight a continuing distinction within current fire safety guidance.

Extra care housing such as Beechmere can accommodate older people and residents with reduced mobility, but it does not necessarily meet the legal definition of a care home. As a result, developments of this type can fall outside requirements introduced through Approved Document B for sprinklers in new care homes.

In this instance, the inclusion of sprinklers is therefore a design decision rather than a specific requirement arising from the regulatory guidance applicable to the building.

Following the 2019 fire, Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service called for sprinklers to be installed in care facilities of this nature. The incident highlighted the importance of considering not only a building’s classification, but also the characteristics and needs of the people who will occupy it.

For the fire safety sector, Beechmere remains an important case study. Building regulations and guidance establish minimum requirements, but effective fire safety design should be informed by a comprehensive assessment of risk, including occupancy, vulnerability, evacuation strategy and the potential consequences of fire.

The proposed redevelopment is therefore a welcome opportunity to apply lessons from the 2019 incident and ensure that fire safety is considered as an integral part of the building’s design from the outset.

Regulatory gap

Iain Cox, chair of the Business Sprinkler Alliance, stated: “It’s encouraging to see sprinklers integrated into the proposals for the Beechmere replacement facility from the start, and credit to the developer for that, but this building is still going up in a regulatory gap that we've been highlighting for years. Extra care housing is not legally required to have sprinklers, only generic fire protection. Beechmere showed precisely what can go wrong without them. It shouldn’t take individual developers doing the right thing voluntarily for that risk to be addressed. It should be a requirement.”

The Beechmere site is finally moving towards redevelopment, but until extra care housing is brought within scope of sprinkler requirements, the vulnerability will remain and we will continue to question why there’s a difference.

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