Ty Iscoed Nursing Home - Caerphilly Council

In 2017 KCCJ was awarded a 3-year framework contract with Caerphilly council and one of the first projects that it undertook was a kitchen refurbishment at the award winning Ty Iscoed Nursing Home in Newbridge.

KCCJ’s brief was to carry out a complete refurbishment of the residential care home kitchen whilst acting as both the principal designer and the main contractor. Both the equipment and the layout of the kitchen, which operates 24/7 providing a wide range of nutritious meals for more than 40 residents, were outdated and in need of modernising. So, the primary objectives of the work were to improve the design by creating a more logical workflow and to incorporate modern, energy efficient equipment better suited to the current demands of the kitchen.

The first stage of this work was to remove all of the existing equipment, strip out the ceiling and lights, remove the existing wall tiles and lift the floor coverings. Normally this would be a relatively straightforward process, in fact it’s something that KCCJ does on a regular basis, but on this occasion it emerged that there was asbestos present in the floor ducts. However, as you would expect of one of the UK’s leading commercial kitchen contractors, KCCJ has a number of team members who have undergone UKATA Cat B asbestos training so whilst its presence was unwelcome it didn’t delay the project as it might have done for others.

Under normal circumstances KCCJ would look to provide a temporary kitchen during the refurbishment process, especially if it is providing food for vulnerable people such as the young or the elderly. However, on this occasion this simply wasn’t possible as Ty Iscoed is situated down a very narrow lane that makes access for large commercial vehicles impossible, so a meals-on-wheels service was put in place during the works. The access restrictions also meant that getting equipment and materials to and from the site was a challenge and that deliveries had to be very carefully co-ordinated in order to avoid congestion, delays and disruption to the normal operation of the nursing home.

Once the strip-out had been completed KCCJ set about completing the first stages of the new kitchen by installing hygienic wall cladding, anti-slip flooring, a hygienic ceiling grid with new lights and a fire suppression system. In addition, new electrical and mechanical services were installed throughout the kitchen. The fitting of the new ventilation canopy resulted in one final twist of the tail as it emerged that the old canopy had been hiding a service pipe and so the new one had to be adapted on-site.

Once this was complete it was time for the new cooking, refrigeration, warewashing and prep counters to be positioned and connected to the newly installed services – the final act of a project that was handed over a day early and within budget.