Conservation Projects
As Chartered Building Surveyors, we are particularly well suited to understand how historic buildings are constructed and, just as importantly, how they should be maintained and refurbished. We carry out historical building surveys / assessments and historic farmstead assessments to understand the changes and developments that have occurred to buildings to help inform proposals that protect and enhance features of historical significance and remove, or conceal, items that are not.
Lantern light in Grade II* listed Care Home
A large grade 2* listed property used as a care home which incorporated an elaborate Victorian lantern light which had been neglected, fell out of use and was eventually concealed from below through the insertion of a modern plasterboard ceiling. We designed a scheme to reinstate and expose the lantern light together with a programme of refurbishment and redecoration. The resulting restored lantern light is enhanced by discrete lighting to display it as a feature at night. The restored lantern light provides natural light and ventilation and is a stunning improvement to the communal area.
Bognor Regis Bandstand
We prepared and submitted a planning and listed building application for appropriate and carefully considered conservation work to a Grade II listed bandstand in a prominent location on a seafront promenade on the South Coast. We subsequently acted as Contract Administrator which included specifying details of the work, obtaining tenders from contractors, monitoring work on site, agreeing all costs and closely liaising with the client throughout the construction process. The resultant work significantly enhanced and improved the appearance and also integrated substantial structural repairs and facilitated wheelchair access’
Historic house in downland village
This early to mid 18th Century rural dwelling is Grade II listed, and it had been subject to extensive remodelling in the late 18th and 19th centuries. A late 20th century ‘refurbishment’ left the building in a poor state of repair due to the use of wholly inappropriate materials which left the property subject to damp ingress. We prepared a scheme to restore the external fabric to its 19th Century appearance, whilst removing hard, cementitious, external finishes and internal gypsum plaster finishes. Internally the property has been redecorated using lime based paints, with the existing timber windows and doors repaired. Finally, the later garage extension has been remodelled and the front facing garden walls repaired and repointed.
The restoration was carried out over a two-year period by local skilled artisans using natural materials that has resulted in the saving of this important building within the street scene of the village.
Potato Tower
A relatively simple square stone building with dressed stone detailing and stone quoins, located directly adjacent to a substantial Elizabethan Manor House and set within landscaped gardens. The building has some interesting design features including a stone entablature of the Estate’s lion motif and a sculpture of an angel in a niche. Having fallen into disrepair, we were instructed to sensitively specify repairs to the building and refurbishment to enable it to be used by members of the public when visiting the property.