Two drawing plans for construction and landscaping work at Penylan House, Cardiff, 1959/1987

Description

Two drawing plans for construction work at Penylan House, Jewish Home for the Aged, Cardiff. Both are plans of Penylan House and its garden area, however the second drawing features an additional large building in orange. This suggests that one is a drawing of the Home as it existed at the time whereas the other is what the Home was planned to look like after being extended. Both have the drawing number 3298, with the first having an additional '.8' and the second having an additional '.6'. Both appear to be copies of a hand drawing and are at the scale of 1 : 250.

The first drawing clearly features the name of the architects beneath the drawing, Osborne. V. Webb & Partners, Chartered Architects, the same architects that designed the National Stadium in Cardiff (also known as the Welsh National Rugby Ground). Various features of the building and garden are labelled such as "The Retreat", "Flower Bed", "Lawn" and "Steps". The location of the Home in relation to Penylan Road is also identified.

The second drawing is clearly titled 'PEN-Y-LAN HOUSE. CARDIFF' and is labelled 'Sketch Scheme No. 2". The architecture firm is not identified but the continuity of the drawing number and the style of the 'North' arrow would suggest that this is also a drawing from Osborne. V. Webb and Partners. This drawing is more detailed compared with the other one; "The Retreat" and "Penylan Road" are still labelled, with the additional label of "existing block" on the building in the centre. This block appears on both drawings.

The main difference between the two drawings is the orange building which appears on the second drawing, which is connected to the existing building but is much longer and cuts across much of the garden area. The only part of this building which is labelled is "Garage" and "Main Entrance". Additionally, a corner to the right of the drawing is marked with a dotted line and labelled as "Area required for licence".

Pencare (formerly known as 'The Trustees of Penylan House') is a charity, which offers care for elderly people of the Jewish faith and is currently based in Cardiff, although the catchment area for the home covers South Wales and the West of England. Pencare has been working with Linc Cymru to redevelop their care home, Penylan House, to ensure high quality care to Cardiff's elderly Jewish community and extending the care to elderly people not of the Jewish faith.

Mr Henry Silver and other members of the Cardiff Jewish community had originally founded a Home for the Aged in 1946 in Canton. In December 1948, the Home moved to Holme Towers in Penarth to provide more space for its large number of applications. Despite the beautiful surroundings, the Home in Penarth was quite isolated, so the difficult decision was later taken to move the Home to Penylan Road in Cardiff, meaning many residents were now closer to their friends and relatives. Residents moved to Penylan House in February 1959.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cardiff_Arms_Park;
http://opencharities.org/charities/243968; http://www.housingcare.org/downloads/facilities/generated-brochures/134508-penylan-house-nursing-home-cardiff-wales.pdf;
Cajex, Magazine of the Association of Jewish Ex-service Men and Women (Cardiff), Vol. IX, No. 1, Ninth Year - March 1959, pp. 60- 65.

Depository: Glamorgan Archives.