Chatham Waters
Topping Out Ceremony Marks Major Milestone for Chatham Waters Care Home Development
Once completed the care home will include a dementia-friendly bistro café, hair and nail salon and sensory rooftop garden.
A significant construction milestone has been reached at Chatham Waters as the new 75-bed elderly living and care home officially celebrates its topping out. The purpose-built, four-storey care home, which will provide specialist dementia care alongside a range of lifestyle amenities, is on track for completion in summer 2026.
Delivered in partnership by Montpelier Estates, Apex Contractors Ltd, and waterside regeneration specialists Peel Waters, the care home will sit at the centre of the Chatham Waters neighbourhood. Once complete, residents will benefit from plenty of communal spaces, including lounges, “library”, cinema room and a sensory rooftop garden – all designed to create a safe, supportive, and vibrant environment for later living. There will also be new amenities and areas for the wider community to enjoy including a dementia-friendly bistro café, hair and nail salon and spaces for community events and talks.
Representatives from Peel Waters, Montpelier Estates, Apex Contractors, The Waterfront UTC and Medway Council took part in the ceremony
The care home has been delivered using a modern, offsite‑led construction approach, enabling significant programme, quality and environmental benefits. The Remagin frame was installed on site in just 12 weeks and 2 days, considerably faster than a traditional build. Key components of the structure were manufactured offsite and installed rapidly, allowing the building to become weather‑tight early in the programme. This method enhances build quality, improves onsite safety, reduces disruption, and simplifies logistics through fewer deliveries and less materials handling. It also offers greater certainty on cost and schedule while supporting more sustainable construction practices by reducing waste and transport movements. To date, the project has successfully diverted 100% of waste from landfill.
How the Chatham Waters Care Home will look once complete
More than £150million has already been directly invested into Chatham Waters so far
The topping out ceremony marks the final structural stage of the build and signals the transition to internal fit-out and finishing works. This milestone follows a series of transformative developments at Chatham Waters, that includes the completion of over 600 new homes – 237 of which are affordable homes, a waterfront linear park, the Waterfront University Technical College, a family pub and restaurant, new public realm and the ASDA superstore. Since Peel Waters started work on regenerating the former industrial site, more than £150million has already been directly invested into the emerging neighbourhood.
James Whittaker, Managing Director of Peel Waters, said: “Reaching the topping out stage is a fantastic achievement for everyone involved. The Chatham Waters Care Home will provide excellent facilities for elderly residents in an environment that promotes wellbeing, social interaction and dignity.
“This latest development brings with it an ongoing pipeline of jobs, training opportunities, and community engagement initiatives ranging from the construction and engineering phase we’re in now, through to a variety of jobs in care, health, cooking, cleaning, maintenance and so much more.
“We’re very proud to reach this milestone with our partners and it is another significant step towards delivering our vision of a thriving, inclusive, waterside neighbourhood at Chatham Waters.”
Anna Ciesielska, Director of Montpelier Estates, added: “We are delighted to be working again with Peel to provide a home for elderly people in need of care and to be the piece of the puzzle that completes phase one of the development of Chatham Waters.
“The support that we have had from Peel, Medway Council, healthcare professionals and our Construction and Design Team, has helped us enormously and I now look forward to the opening of the care home this summer.
“Everyone has been so welcoming that we already feel part of the neighbourhood. This project has been much more than delivering a care home; it is heartwarming to become a part of the fabric of the whole community and we look forward to welcoming the first residents.”
Helping to ease pressure on NHS services
The care home will also play a vital role in addressing the local need for step-up and step-down care accommodation, helping to ease pressure on NHS services and reduce hospital discharge delays. Located just 1.4 miles from Medway Maritime Hospital, the development is uniquely positioned to provide bespoke rehabilitation and care services.
As construction progresses, Montpelier Estates will continue to work with local creatives on interior design and engage with the community to plan activities within the home, including cinema screenings, cooking demonstrations, and school visits.
Dan Hollis, Managing Director of Apex Contractors Ltd, concluded: “The topping out at Chatham Waters marks a significant collective achievement for the whole project team and the supply chain.
“It is a proud moment, not just because of the physical structure we’ve built together so quickly and safely, but because of the teamwork, dedication and shared vision that has got us here. We are excited to maintain this togetherness and momentum, and later this year, handover a building that offers much needed facilities in the local area.”
Completion of the Chatham Waters Care Home is expected in summer 2026.
WATCH the latest progress from the Chatham Waters Care Home build here: Topping Out Ceremony at Chatham Waters | New Care Home Reaches Key Construction Milestone – YouTube
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