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Rubislaw Park in Aberdeen, Scotland, the flagship care home of CrossReach designed by UK-based architectural practice Archial, has won the Care Home Design Award at the Scottish Care Awards 2010.

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The £6 million ($9.7 million) Rubislaw Park is a new purpose-built, two-storey care home set in attractive gardens in the west end of Aberdeen. The state-of-the-art facility was commissioned by a team led by Director of Estates David Reid and replaced a 50 year-old home on the same site. The new facility has been designed to offer specialist dementia care to 40 older people as well as 24 residential places, with all rooms having full en-suite facilities.

Rubislaw Park's mainstream and dementia units are arranged around an internal secure courtyard. Day rooms are split into various lounges throughout the scheme, each accessing attractive 180 degree views into the wooded site.

The southerly facing secure garden accesses summer sun and the woodland beyond and includes a fully glazed conservatory which invites residents to utilise the exterior space and interact with their surroundings.

Considerable thought was given to energy conservation and 'green' issues. The building incorporates geothermal boreholes, CHP's and solar ventilation as energy efficiency measures as well as fully integrated services required for a care home of this size. Electric alternators generate the building's power, eliminating the need to buy electricity from the National Grid, while under floor heating eliminates the need forradiators, reducing the risk of personal injury.

Rubislaw Park was the unanimous choice in the category of the 'Care Home Design' at the Scottish Care Awards out of some 300 entries. The awards took place on 5 November 2010 in the Hilton Hotel, Glasgow.

Rubislaw Park is the flagship care home for CrossReach - the social care arm of the Church of Scotland.