Belong Newcastle-under-Lyme is one of seven Belong care villages located in the northwest. It provides twenty eight apartments for independent living together with seventy two bedrooms within six households offering advanced support.
The development comprises a newly constructed four storey residential care block combined with a renovated Grade II listed building known as Maxims which had previously operated as the Old Pomona Inn and a nightclub before becoming derelict. The Heritage Lottery Fund awarded a £1.8 million grant to transform Maxims into the Belong Heritage Gallery.
The newly constructed residential care block comprises a load bearing masonry structure with internal steel framed core. The internal core is designed as braced steel frame with composite concrete metal deck floors spanning between beams supported on columns. Foundations for the building are provided by driven steel piles designed and installed by a specialist contractor supporting cast insitu reinforced concrete pile caps.
The existing building was renovated to provide ancillary accommodation including office space, a servery, bars and tea rooms. The renovations were extensive and included the partial replacement of walls, roofs, floors and elements of the facade. Accommodation within the Maxims building is provided over two and three floors. The traditional timber roof is supported on load bearing walls that support suspended timber floors. Where appropriate, renovations were carried out with materials to match or resemble the existing. Defective timbers were replaced and cracked or defective masonry was rebuilt or reinforced with bed joint reinforcement.