St Crispin’s, Northampton for WN Developments Ltd

This site was formerly Northampton’s asylum and was built in the 1880’s. It was sold by the NHS in 1995 and the surrounding grounds developed for housing.

Being located in a conservation area, it was intended that the ward buildings and clock tower would be converted to residential use. Some of these buildings were converted in the mid 2000’s but when the 2008 recession bit work stopped. The remaining buildings had been stripped out ahead of conversion and when worked stopped they were left to decay for over 10 years, becoming the subject of arson and vandalism.

The site was subsequently sold to our client, WN Developments, who instructed RDC to obtain the most feasible planning consent that would allow the redevelopment of the site. Working closely with Northampton Borough Council Planners we negotiated the demolition of the existing ward buildings, to be replaced with sympathetically designed apartments and the retention and restoration of the clock tower. The scheme also featured townhouses and underground car parks. Planning for 235 dwellings was submitted in December 2015 and in September 2016 consent was granted at committee.