Northumberland veterinary centre refurbished by Durham based firm

Refurbishment work at Orchard House Veterinary Centre’s premises in Stocksfield is now complete, creating more consulting rooms and staff areas to cope with its growing patient list.

The “challenging” project, which took place while the practice was fully operational, created the need for a series of mini project phases and heralded a return to collaborative working for the award-winning Durham-based architect, Howarth Litchfield, and Orchard House founding vet, Tim Pearson.

The two companies originally teamed up in 2016 to create the Orchard House premises in Bellingham, where a former police station on Fountain View was converted into Orchard House Veterinary Centre’s next surgery at the time. As before, Howarth Litchfield was appointed because of its experience of the veterinary sector and building refurbishment.

Orchard House Veterinary Centre in Stocksfield has been operational since 2004. Howarth Litchfield was brought in during 2021 to submit the planning application to extend the building, which involved liaising with the building control team, redesigning the new internal layouts and the procurement and appointment of a building contractor, Ryton Construction.

The six-month construction programme is due to complete by the end of the month and will double surgery capacity. It will provide a second consulting room, a spacious operating theatre and patient preparation area with new specialist lighting, while the air conditioning and mechanical heat recovery and ventilation will make a massive difference to staff comfort.

Tim Pearson said: “Neil and the team at Howarth Litchfield have a wide range of knowledge and skills from other building projects as well as veterinary and healthcare projects, so I have been very happy with the service from them, patiently reviewing the plans to give us exactly what we want and providing fantastic support with specialist reports and planning.

“I have been particularly impressed and grateful for the phasing of the works which has allowed us to continue working in the building, taking the pressure off our other branch in Hexham and maintaining cash flow.

“With the refurbishment and redevelopment of the building we will be able to offer a much better consulting service, more nurse appointments and better surgical and dental care. There will also be heated cat and dog cages and walk-in kennels with heated floors, which will improve patient comfort.”

Neil Turner, director of Howarth Litchfield, added: “Through this refurbishment, we have demonstrated our ability to convert and improve simple buildings, even when in use, so that there is an all-round better experience for staff and visitors to Orchard House.”

By Matthew Neville – Senior Correspondent, Bdaily

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