The Coach House will soon become a new residential care home and rehabilitation centre for 11 adults with acquired brain injuries. It is a two-storey building situated in the grounds of The Mews (one of our existing residential care homes) in Northampton, and after extensive renovation work it is now taking shape.

As it’s a listed building, we’ve been working alongside planners and conservation officers to ensure that we retain the integrity and character of the original building, while making it a modern, comfortable place to live. We are extending and renovating it to bring a run-down building back into use, which will provide much-needed accommodation and rehabilitation facilities for people with acquired brain injuries and complex needs.

Maintenance Manager, Dexter Griffin, is managing the project and the team of builders, contractors and specialist trades to ensure that everything runs smoothly and it up to the required specifications and standards.

We are including as many environmentally-friendly and energy-efficient features as possible within the care home. These include rainwater harvesting, and installing the system was a big project. Much of the work happened below ground as we had to dig a hole 5m deep and install a tank capable of holding 42,000 litres of water. The tank then had to be filled and settled before the rest of the hole was filled in. This was one occasion when we were grateful for some torrential rain! The system will collect water from the whole of The Mews’ roof as well as the Coach House, which will be used to flush toilets in both buildings as well as supplying the laundry rooms. In addition to being environmentally-friendly, we will achieve a return on our investment from reduced water and sewerage costs over time.

The roof and external structures are almost complete and we’re looking forward to the scaffolding coming down so we can have a better impression of what the finished care home will look like.

Dexter and the team are now working on the interior framework and services. The care home will have light, spacious bedrooms and communal areas with wide corridors to give a practical, relaxed and comfortable environment. We’ll keep you updated as the building progresses.

Corridors will be wide and light

The stonework on the new part of the building will age to match the original