Blackwood House is the first step in what is hoped to be the roll out of a number of the specialist properties
An innovative home which is set to be the model of how Scotland will transform the lives of people with disabilities is to be unveiled for the first time.
A working replica of the Blackwood House will be launched on Tuesday (4 December).
The home, at the Edinburgh Community Rehabilitation and Support Service in Longstone, will provide a place for both customers and staff to test the latest in technology-enabled care within a realistic homely setting.
It is the first step in what is hoped to be the roll out of a number of the specialist properties in the city.
The Blackwood House - developed by Edinburgh based charity Blackwood - is a cutting-edge property that reimagines living space, redesigning it physically and technologically to make it more accessible for disabled residents.
Every aspect of the house has been carefully considered to take away any obstacles or issues with that can disrupt daily life. It features electric doors that open and shut at the touch of a tablet, seeing the door slide into the wall and take away the hassle of manoeuvring around it.
Other special features include high and low-level kitchen units that rise and fall, and contemporary moveable bathroom components that provide high levels of accessibility.
The property is ‘smart’, too, with technology playing a key role: lights, blinds, doors, entry systems and heating can all be controlled via Blackwood’s bespoke digital care system CleverCogs. Much of this technology will be able to be controlled by voice.
The launch of the Blackwood House - which will also allow the concept to be seen and experienced by agencies and individuals from across Scotland - comes as Blackwood steps up its ambitious plans to deliver up to 160 of the life changing properties in Glasgow, Inverclyde and Dundee over the next three to four years.
Edinburgh Health and Social Care Partnership (IJB) has teamed up with Blackwood to develop the replica model.
Councillor Ricky Henderson, chair of the Edinburgh IJB, said: “Of the 20,000 new homes planned for Edinburgh over the next 10 years, we want to see 4500 of them built to address health and social care needs.
“The Blackwood House is a fabulous example of how innovation in housing design can transform quality of life and we are excited at the prospect of working with Blackwood to bring these homes to Edinburgh.”
Simon Fitzpatrick, strategic development director at Blackwood added: “The Blackwood House is designed to be solution to a national crisis – it’s all about independent living.
“For many people with disabilities, it’s not that they can’t look after themselves; it’s simply that their current home set-up doesn’t allow them to.
“Technology can do just about anything these days so we’re making it our business to ensure that people living with a disability really gain from its advances.”
