A NORTH East architect practice has won planning permission for a new facility for a leading national charity.

Jane Darbyshire & David Kendall (JDDK) Ltd has been appointed by Sue Ryder to design the new 20-bedroom patient facility within the grounds of a Grade 1-listed country house set in a Grade II-listed landscape.

Thorpe Hall, near Peterborough, was originally constructed between 1653 and 1656 for the Commonwealth’s Lord Chief Justice, Oliver St John, and is now recognised as one of the finest buildings in the East of England.

JDDK director Ian Clarke, who leads the design team, said: “This is certainly the most sensitive setting in which I have been asked to work in 25 years working with the hospice movement.

“Despite the uniqueness of the setting and the huge emotional connections for local people and staff, the existing setting of the in-patient wards within the Listed interior of the hall has proved progressively mismatched with the charity’s forward-looking care requirements.”