Hawkins Shoe Factory is a 19th century landmark building a short walk from Northampton town centre. The Grade ll Listed building is very well known in the local area, renowned for its leather works and shoe making industry. This building in its day, would have employed thousands of people. The Hawkins factory was the largest producer of military boots in the UK supporting the British war efforts through both world wars. It also supplied footwear for Queen Victoria receiving the Royal Warrant in 1885 and made the boots for Edmund Hilary’s Everest expedition in 1953. That’s quite a history!
Today, this landmark building is undergoing a regenerative transformation from a derelict shoe factory to 89 much needed new homes in the area, thanks to the vision of OEH Group and Acca Group who identified an opportunity to restore this listed building and bring much needed new homes to the area in an environmentally friendly way. With help from Octopus Real Estate, this iconic building is now being brought to life again having been derelict for a long time.
Global Home Warranties are the 10 year structural warranty partner for this fantastic conversion project. We have a wealth of experience in working on regenerative conversion projects with housebuilders, developers, and housing associations across the UK, so were thrilled to be chosen to work on the Hawkins Factory project.
Working closely with OEH Group, our survey team are on site at each and every stage of this intricate project. A complex project like this requires a robust, multistage inspection process to reduce risk of defects. The project has been designed to retain as many of the original, historical elements as possible while delivering a New York, loft style apartment feel.
Andrew Gunning Head of Retail Sales at Global says, “This is a fantastic project, and we are delighted to be working closely with the site team at OEH Group. Our experienced survey team fully understand the complexities of regeneration projects like this. The design of this project incorporates using as many original features as possible, like the original exposed stanchion posts. It’s always refreshing to see designs which incorporate bringing old and new together while navigating the protection of the historical original features. Thankfully this is something that our team have extensive experience in. We always enjoy working with client partners like OEH Group who share our passion for top quality practices with a right first-time approach. Our structural warranty cover lasts for 10 years but what we always strive to deliver for our clients, is quality that stretches far beyond.”
Daniel Sutton from OEH Group added, “We are delighted that our trusted construction partner, S&R Northants has once again appointed Global Home Warranties to provide their services to an exciting and complex regeneration project in Northamptonshire. With S&R Northants being a family run business, we are overjoyed to be giving such a historic landmark back to new families to start and continue their lives in Northampton.“
Click on the links to find out more about the Hawkins project, OEH Group & contractors S&R Northants