Keymer Hall Wins Care Home Design of the Year 2026

Keymer Hall by Boutique Care Homes, situated in Burgess Hill, West Sussex, has won Care Home Design of the Year at the Leaders in Care Awards 2026, held in association with Care Home Professional and Home Care Insight. The result was announced on 6 October 2026 at the Forest of Arden Hotel and Country Club.

The home welcomed its first residents on 8 December 2025. Less than a year later, it is a national award winner.

“We’re an independent, family-run group, and from day one we wanted this home to belong to Burgess Hill , not just stand within it” says Ameet Kotecha, Founder and Managing Director of Boutique Care Homes. “To have that recognised nationally before our first birthday? We are absolutely delighted.”

The award is for a home designed around good days. The entrance has a piano, and the structural columns around it were turned into shelving and display space, so the room feels open and sociable rather than boxed in. Lounges sit opposite the dining rooms, so company is never far away. Six balconies mean fresh air and a change of view are a few steps from every community.

For residents, that adds up to choice. “Nobody should have to ask permission to enjoy their own home,” says Tom Duck, Development Director at Boutique Care Homes. “If the layout does its job, a resident just gets up, goes where they fancy and finds someone to talk to.”

Families have plenty of choices for places to spend quality time together. Hillians Snug is a room dedicated for quiet time together, away from the bustle. Communities and lounges carry the names of places local families know, including Guild Lounge and Sawyer Lounge, which honour the Ditchling Artists’ Guild.

That attention to detail is the thread running through the home, and it is one the team helped to pull. Before the building was finished, team members were asked what would make caring easier. Those ideas are now part of Keymer Hall.

“I’m proud of Keymer Hall every time I walk through the door,” says Christine Bunce, Home Manager at Keymer Hall. “It’s a lovely home to live in and a good one to work in, and the team make it that way, with small kindnesses, a warm hello for every family and time for a chat over breakfast. That’s what I see on an ordinary day, and it’s what I’m proudest of.”

The home’s 2026 annual survey shows how it feels to the people who matter most. 100% of families would recommend Keymer Hall, 100% said residents are treated with kindness, dignity and respect, and 100% praised access to pleasant gardens and outdoor areas.

Carl Roberts, Director of Sales and Marketing at Boutique Care Homes, sees the award as a reflection of something bigger than the building. “The design is the surface,” he says. “The attention to detail in our environment is the same attention we give families. It’s a lounge named after a place you know, soft lighting for a quiet visit, a room where you can sit together. You notice it on your first visit, and we want you to feel the same care in everything that follows.”

Boutique Care Homes believes in “Not just care. Life, thriving.” Keymer Hall is not yet a year old, and the care inside it is already speaking for itself.