Changing Places Case Study: Boston Wide Bargate

Written by Kit Garrett
November 8, 2023

One of the UK’s few remaining inland ports, Boston has existed as a settlement as far back as Roman times. Its rich history and picturesque views of British times past are now open to the over 250,000 people who need Changing Places toilets, thanks to a new installation by RISE.

Fourth Time’s The Charm?

Being based in South Yorkshire, we’re no strangers to Boston and the wider Lincolnshire area. That’s why it’s been so satisfying to work with Boston Borough Council over the summer months to deliver three outstanding new Changing Places toilet projects for the town, with another at Carter’s Park in neighbouring South Holland recently completed, too.

Each site was carefully considered and selected by Boston Borough Council and ratified by RISE as good candidates, with each offering its own distinct benefits to the growth of the town. For more on our other work in Boston and South Holland, see our case studies of Carter’s Park and Central Park, published earlier this year.

Wide Bargate: Opening Up The Town Centre

Located in the middle of the town, with immediate access to some of its most attractive amenities, Wide Bargate cuts through the centre, ending in the imposing edifice of St Botolph’s Church, the landmark that’s thought to be the town’s namesake. Having already improved access to transport links by installing a Changing Places toilet at the Bus Station, and providing much needed access to green space with projects at Carter’s and Central Parks, the Council smartly decided to site its final installation right in the town’s economic heart. This not only means that disabled people with complex needs, and their families, can shop in Boston with confidence, it’ll also lead to a shot in the arm for local businesses through increased footfall from local residents, day-trippers and holiday makers.

With funding secured through a Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Changing Places grant, and RISE already directed to begin works as part of the broader scheme, all that was left was to iron out the finer details.

Will You Be Our Next Partner?

Partnership Working: The Only Way To Go

As a main contractor, we always make our best effort to work closely with our clients; it’s only through properly understanding them, their needs, their struggles and their vision that we can effectively deliver an end product that will satisfy not only them, but their customers as well.

Adrian Sibley, Deputy Chief Executive for Programme Delivery at Boston Borough Council said:

“RISE’s turnkey service and brick slip finish options are the main things that attracted us to them. Their expertise in the area is huge, and their reputation for treating clients as partners was really important to us. The open dialogue and partnership-style working on this and other projects in the area has led to a series of installations we know will be useful to the people of Boston, and anyone who visits the town.”

After consulting Adrian and his team in-depth on their preferences, we built their Changing Places pod to their exact specifications – including an attractive brick slip finish, perfectly in keeping with the surrounding architecture. As always, before commencing groundworks on-site, we conducted our own surveys to ensure conditions were correct for supporting one of our custom-built installations. Groundworks finished and utilities made available for our installation team, we delivered the finished pod to site and installed it in less than a day.

Across all four projects, the total time from signing of the contract to this last installation being handed over was less than five months – an almost unthinkable timescale for any other method than modular pod prefabrication.

Boston, We Hardly Knew Ye

It’s with a tinge of sadness that our time in Boston comes to an end, at least for the immediate future. All four of the projects we worked on taught us something new or valuable to include in our process, and our relationship with Adrian and the Borough Council helped to make sure all works were completed without a hitch. We’re incredibly proud of the work we’ve done, and we know it’ll help disabled people in Boston out for years to come.

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