Dean paints shopfronts and small commercial frontages in St Crispin, the NN5 neighbourhood on the former St Crispin's Hospital grounds, about 2.6 miles west of Northampton town centre. The commercial premises here are few, so each job is planned around how that building is used.
A short list of frontages
St Crispin is mainly a residential neighbourhood, and there is no business park within it. The commercial frontages are a small group: the units at St Crispin Retail Village, which local sales listings name as the neighbourhood’s shopping area; St Crispin’s Community Centre on St Crispin Drive, with its café and hall; and St Crispins Social Club on Berrywood Road. Berrywood Hospital, the modern mental health unit, is a large NHS site rather than a shop, and work on a building of that kind falls under our commercial painting service instead.
Because the list is short, we would rather be honest than overstate it. Shopfront painting in St Crispin means a handful of businesses and community buildings, each with its own pattern of use.
Retail village units
Neighbourhood shops serve people living within walking distance, so closing for a day to repaint costs both the owner and the customers. We plan the work in sections, starting with fascia boards and signage areas above the door, then window frames and stall risers, and finishing the entrance door last so it is only out of use for the shortest time. Wet paint signs go up, the pavement is kept clear, and dust sheets come up before the shop gets busy.
The units serve the surrounding townhouses and flats, so the same neighbours pass the frontage every day, and small signs of wear, such as a flaking bottom rail on the door or a faded fascia, are worth dealing with before they spread.
If a unit has aluminium or powder-coated frames rather than timber, those need a different primer from painted wood, and some coated frames are better cleaned than painted. We check what each part is made of at the quote.
The community centre and the social club
St Crispin’s Community Centre cost £2.2m and includes a café, a hall, four football pitches and a baseball diamond. A building with that range of uses has busy and quiet periods, and outside painting has to fit around the bookings. That usually means talking to the centre’s management about which entrances can be closed, when, and where a tower or ladders can stand without blocking access to the pitches or the café. The social club on Berrywood Road has its own hours, and we agree a schedule with the committee or manager in the same way.
Weather and setting
The neighbourhood stands high above the Nene valley, so frontages facing south or west take more rain and sun than the same shop in a sheltered street. Signboards and the top rail of a fascia usually show it first, with faded colour and cracked paint at the joints. Trees in the old hospital grounds and Berry Wood drop leaves into gutters and doorways, and a shaded frontage may need an algae wash before painting.
Frontages close to the old hospital buildings sit inside the St Crispin’s Conservation Area. A plain repaint of an existing shopfront in its current colour is maintenance. A new colour scheme, new signage or illuminated signs may need advertisement consent or planning advice from West Northamptonshire Council, especially close to the historic buildings. We can suggest colours that work in the setting, but the consent question is one to raise with the council early.
More detail on materials and preparation is on our main shopfront painting service page, and the residential work we cover nearby is listed on our St Crispin area page.
Last updated by Dean, DH Painter & Decorator.
