December 2012 – Well as is always the case, the project below is now finished which in lots of ways is really great news – especially for the client - but also it is a bit sad as we really enjoy the work on site and the whole management aspect to ensure that what we have designed is what is built! Everything below shows just how well the outside of the project was looking and we have now done the same process internally – photo’s to follow! This means that as we go into the New Year we don’t have a project on site, although in about 3 months another is going to be on-stream. In the meantime we are busy on some planning applications and getting working drawings etc ready for projects including a good sized remodelling project in Haslemere and a brand new Arts & Crafts style house in Westcott.
October 2012 – The outside structure of the house is now finished and work has moved inside. All the time and effort taken to match the materials has really paid off and it is probably the best match we have seen and it has been a real joy to behold as the scaffolding came down – in fact many people have been amazed that a “new” house can look so nice and are completely stunned to learn that it is, in fact, a 50 year old house with two newly built extensions! Internally the staircase adaptions have now been completed, a rather nice painted kitchen installed and work is now taking place laying ceramic tiles and bathrooms being fitted. Outside a very interesting and imaginative landscaping project is underway, and we are hoping to persuade the client to install some feature exterior lighting to “wash” the front elevation which would look very dramatic – our fingers are crossed!
August 2012 – With a few weeks of decent weather some good progress has been made on the project which we have on site. The original house is 60 years or so old, and the real challenge has been to match the materials as the house is so visible in one of the best roads in Haslemere. It’s a problem common to all projects of course and something we work very hard on, insisting on as many sample panels of materials as it takes to get the match – which can make us unpopular with the contractor! Previous posts covered the fact that the contractor found a really good new brick to match the main walls, darker corners (quoins) and the arches over the windows – the existing have all been steam cleaned too – and we have turned our attention to the roof tiles. We found that the existing originated from the Midlands and that no localor new tile even comes close in appearance. All credit to the contractor however, who spent a lot of time tracking down some identical second-hand tiles from a reclaim yard in Cannock, and this should mean that the overall match of walls and roof between existing and old is spot on.
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June 2012 – It’s been a busy few weeks with two planning applications submitted, and another just waiting for the clients final approval. The on-site project is moving along in between the return of the rain. The contractor is juggling working outside and inside – it’s sure been an odd couple of weeks.
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May 2012 – The weather has turned our “Somme” into a dust-bowl but, at least, it means that some of the lost progress can be clawed back. The new foundations are now in but, due to the poor ground conditions, the building inspector made the contractor dig almost twice the depth priced for and expected. The contractor has spent a great deal of time, under our direction, sourcing bricks that are a good match for the main walls and the feature quoins (corners) which is a hugely important thing to get right in extension and alteration projects as poor matching ruins a great design.
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April 2012 – We have just got a fairly large extension and remodelling project started on-site. The house is in one of the most favoured areas of Haslemere and was built in the 1960′s in the “Georgian” style popular in those days, and we have designed two new symetrical “wings” at either end of the house together with a complete remodelling of the interior to provide a better “flow” through the house. Demolition and excavation of foundations is where we are at and, with the rain, we seem to have a “Somme” situation already as we are in the famous “Haslemere Clay” – did you know that what is now called Weyhill, was originally called Clay Hill and had a number of brickworks using the local clay?
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Feb 2012 – In 2006 we renovated and extended a farmhouse and got consent to convert its’ stone barn into residential accomodation. Overall the barn was in pretty good shape – for a barn but not for habitation! – so we had to consider how to stabilise and strengthen the existing structure in a way that would be acceptable to the planners, at a reasonable cost and which would allow a successful and useable conversion to take place. We decided that a new internal steel frame was the solution which would entail bracing the existing internal corners of the barn with steel strapping, forming a new structural framework within the building in each corner and other strategic intermediate positions.
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Due to finances the works are being done done in phases, beginning with the new structural system. New concrete bases have been formed internally (they actually extend outwards under the existing walls) supporting new steel columns with new steel beams in-between, which are fixed to the stonework. This means that the existing, historic footing below the barns walls are not compromised and a way is provided to tie the walls back to something stable as they have “moved” outward and also cracked at corners over the lifetime of the barn - previous repair strapping can be seen in the left-hand picture which will enlarge if you click it and the right-hand picture shows part of the new framing. This phase of the work is now completed and we simply await further instruction from the client to say they have the monies to carry on – so wtach this space.
