Willow Tree Apartment

A former care home and Victorian-era cottage turned into premium flats, Willow Tree Apartments in Yate, Bristol has been fully refurbished and remodelled. Seeking to create a warm and natural interior that was in-keeping with the building’s heritage, contractor Rudge Brothers and James specified the Allura Dryback range from Forbo Flooring Systems for the project.

Formerly a care home from the early 1980s until 2018, Willow Cottage has seen many different uses across its 250-year history. Starting life as a house in 1766, owned by a doctor who ran a surgery from the ground floor, the building eventually became a care home in the 1980s after use as a Sunday school. Following the closure of the care facility in 2019, the property was bought by developers Fairholm Group, who chose to reinvigorate the historic building into nine new stylish apartments.

Rudge Brothers and James were employed to assist with specifying and installing the internal finishes, with Jim Heal, Director at Rudge Brothers and James, saying: “We were appointed by Fairholm to advise on some of the internal specification jobs, including the flooring. In this advisory role, we recommended that they install Forbo’s Allura Dryback Luxury Vinyl Tile (LVT) range for a number of the apartments.

“This product is our go-to as a company, we’ve used it many times on other projects and have never had an issue with it. It’s a hard-wearing, great looking and long-lasting flooring solution that offers an incredibly long lifespan. We instructed Fairholm to use the 0.7mm wear layer version as it would provide enhanced durability, perfect for busy family homes.”

As well as durability, acoustics was another priority, as Jim explained: “A combination of rubber and chipboard acoustic underlays were installed on this project, as reducing impact noise was a key objective. Forbo’s Allura has then been installed fully adhered in the lounge, kitchen and dining areas, as well as the corridors between each of the apartments. We predicted that these would be the most high traffic areas and as such, needed a more practical and hard-wearing solution, like an LVT.”

With the focus on creating stylish apartments suitable for modern day living, while simultaneously being respectful of the building’s history and heritage, design was also an important consideration. Jim commented: “To complement the rustic nature of the building’s exterior and Yate’s rural surroundings, we wanted a more natural finish for the interior and so chose Forbo’s Natural Timber effect from the Wood range. It’s a really nice neutral and classic wood shade that isn’t too bright or too dark for the space and helps to bring an element of warmth.”

James Adams, Managing Director at Fairholm Estates, said of the apartments: “Willow Tree Apartments has been a challenging and rewarding project. The old care home had a variety of existing floor structures and coverings, making this element of the project a bit of a puzzle. As a result of this, we subcontracted this work out to Rudge Brothers and James, who we’ve known and worked with for a number of years – being aware of the wealth of experience they possess.

“I knew subcontracting this aspect of the conversion to them meant we would be in safe hands and they did a great job installing Forbo’s Allura LVT, adding a high quality and warm finish to the apartments.”