Nottinghamshire college launches smart homes on campus for people with complex needs
Portland College, which is based in Mansfield, Nottinghamshire, has collaborated with ADS Independent Living Solutions (ADS) to launch independent living homes that come pre-fitted with assistive technology for people with learning and physical disabilities.
The Smile Homes have been installed on the college campus and deliver intelligent and completely personalised housing for people with complex needs.
Incorporating assistive technology from the start, the homes support the health and wellbeing of the person living in them, with the flexibility to support people with different needs in being as independent as they can.
The first unit installed at Portland College, co-funded by Innovate UK, will be used as a living lab and to demonstrate its flexible technology infrastructure, which can support a range of systems for integrated building, environment, and personal management.
Portland learners and citizens will have the opportunity to test this innovative new way of independent living and provide feedback on their experience to help shape future developments of the Smile Homes.
Smile Homes have the capacity to add personalised assistive technology driven by the needs of the person who will live in the home. It can be programmed to function as the user needs, creating a person-centred system to support routines and sensory needs with multi-sensors to constantly assess environment, physical and behavioural aspects whilst keeping data in the home for privacy and security.
David Adams, Chief Executive of ADS, commented: “Our intelligent Smile Homes system is a transformational change in the delivery of personalised homes for independent living for people with different abilities and complex needs.
“We are delighted to have completed this milestone with our first Smile Homes installation at Portland College. We are looking forward to using this platform to drive innovation and delivery to enable people to lead fulfilling and rewarding lives in a home of their own, in a community of their choosing, which meets their needs and wishes.”
All Smile Homes are highly insulated, according to Portland College. They also target operation at net zero, have solar panels and a green roof, and use no concrete.
Dr Mark Dale, Principal and CEO of Portland College, concluded: “Smile Homes is a fantastic example of exploiting technology to address major health, social and well-being issues, bringing innovation to the challenges of building fully accessible housing for people with disabilities and a range of medical conditions, using environmentally sustainable technology.
“We’re proud to be hosting the first Smile Homes unit on campus and are looking forward to being involved in shaping the future of independent living.”