Another chapter in Mildmay’s story
The Peter Cox Liverpool team has recently completed its part on the £4.5M refurbishment of Mildmay House, a supported housing project for single men managed by charity Chapter 1. The majority of applicants are primarily homeless, unable to remain in their current accommodation or deemed as vulnerable in their current situation.
Making a home for the 21st century
Area Manager Paul Owen said: “The Victorian building was in need of a major overhaul to ensure that it met modern day standards. Mildmay is to be re-designed from the ground up to embrace the ethos of the Homelessness Change Programme and provide applicants with a contemporary living and training environment.”
The building was founded by the Young Women’s Christian Association (YWCA) in 1883 and was built to a very high standard costing £8000 and including central heating via hot water pipes – very innovative for the period! It was initially used as a training home for deaconesses and later became a residential hostel for women. In the 1970s, the house underwent a major conversion to its present layout and the first male residents were admitted. By the turn of this century, Mildmay had become a hostel for single men who were experiencing housing difficulties.”
Peter Cox were initially requested to tender for the basement waterproofing system and then after the initial strip out, we were invited with the other preservation companies to carry out a full timber and damp assessment. This resulted in our Liverpool branch winning the contract to carry out a comprehensive programme of timber treatments including Beam end resin repairs, Masonry Sterilisation, Insecticidal Spray treatments and In-situ Timber Gel treatments to large timber sections.
“The client was keen to use locally based businesses where possible and as we are located just ten minutes away from the development, we certainly ticked that particular box,” said Paul. “However, it was obvious our experience and expertise also played a major part in securing the business.
“For example, we suggested the idea of and then advised the client about specialist beam end resin repairs and were given the job of working on some of the tie beams in the turret section. We also suggested alternative designs on the damp course insertion and basement waterproofing parts of the contract which then resulted in us also being successful on this portion of the remedial works.”
Their refurbished building will provide a mix of accommodation to meet both the needs of those residents with history of rough sleeping, and those who are ready to live a little more independently.
A happy ending
In line with Chapter 1’s ethos to equip people for a better future, there is an in-house training space, a music room, and communal areas for social activities including a large space in the centre of the building as well as purpose-built training rooms. The accommodation includes a mixture of self-contained flats and individual en-suite rooms with shared kitchen and lounge areas.
The hostel was closed for almost 2 years and re-opened in December 2014, to help those in need at probably one of the most crucial times of the year, and we were delighted to be involved in such a project.
