Sensitive alterations have also been carried out during a full refurbishment to address a number of 20^thcentury interventions and create a bright family home.

The plans involve internal re-ordering of the church providing increased flexible space for the congregation and events, connecting into the main worship space and hospitality area.

Improved access through changes to the floor levels to create level thresholds have been explored and a cloister incorporating a heritage exhibition space will provide a circulation link between the new spaces.

Providing a successful mix of quiet, contemplative spaces alongside informal social and community uses, while creating a more accessible visitor experience is key to the design.

The dwelling has been designed to provide modern and comfortable accommodation, which allows the occupant to enjoy the setting and a sense of separation.  The new farm office, forming part of the footprint of the new house, will provide self-sufficient accommodation for two workers and can be used for essential storage of equipment as well as an office space, a utility room and WC/shower facilities.

This new Central London Campus in Bloomsbury was opened in April 2024 will offer a range of creative courses, as well as providing a new home for the KLC School of Design.

A quinquennial inspection of the house and immediately surrounding grounds was also completed to assist the Trust in scheduling future conservation works.  Following a visual inspection of the building, a report was prepared covering all aspects of conservation and repair, with recommendations assigned a priority.

]]> https://www.vallisandhall.com/projects/listed-17th-century-house/ Thu, 22 Aug 2024 09:32:13 +0000 https://www.vallisandhall.com/?post_type=projects&p=2283 Works involving reconfiguration to provide additional ground floor living accommodation to a grade II listed 17th century building which was once partly a house and partly a malthouse, but now wholly a residential dwelling.

Roof repairs were carried out initially to ensure that the building remained weathertight, followed by internal repairs and alterations.  The brief requested the addition of a kitchen and family room that overlooked the undulating mature landscape, while the remainder of the house was carefully repaired and reconfigured to suit a modern family home.

The existing concrete floors and footprint of the extension were carefully excavated by the archaeologist and a new Limecrete breathable floor build-up was introduced with underfloor heating to the ground floor.  The existing plasterboard ceilings and vaulted skeilings were removed and modern, non-breathable materials replaced with breathable materials such as sheep wools, wood fibre insulation and boards with a lime plastered finish throughout.

The repairs and alterations were carried out sympathetically to the building’s significance using traditional materials and methods, while also improving the building’s thermal performance and without compromising its breathability.

The works incorporated external landscaping in the form of a decorative stone retaining wall with steps up onto higher level terraced areas of the garden.

The project was a winner at the Sussex Heritage Trust Awards 2025 in the ‘Small Scale Residential: Restoration, Conversion and Extension’ category.

Our clients returned to us in 2018 with a brief to carry out further alterations and extensions to the main house, to bring this area of the house in line with the design style of the previous extension.

The proposal sought a perpendicular extension to the main house, complementing the previous extension, as well as single storey front extension.  This provides a spacious formal entrance hall and also facilitated the internal reconfiguration of the ground and first floor spaces, improving spatial proportions and rearranging them to improve flow.

The later works followed the previous contemporary style using flat zinc roofs with deep eaves and exposed rafter feet, horizontal boarding with shadow gap detailing, and a first floor deep reveal balcony off the vaulted master bedroom. In addition, the use of sliding/folding doors now allow the kitchen, dining and living rooms to connect to the stunning outdoor space.

A complete re-roofing of the chancel, nave and bell tower roofs was carried out in 2017, grant aided by the Listed Places of Worship (LPW) roof repair fund.

All roof slopes were stripped and weathered in new Tudor handmade clay peg tiles and retained tiles, where possible.  An extensive series of historic structural timber repairs were also carried out, alongside works to the surface water drainage and improvements to the rainwater goods.

The project also included historic timber repairs and works to the surface water drainage.

The nave was re-weathered in Keymer peg tiles, while the chancel and porch were in salvaged plain clay tiles that were stripped off the existing roofs.

More recently, we have undertaken the quinquennial inspection at the church.

More recently a contemporary, octagonal extension was designed to create additional family space, alongside internal alterations and conservation repair of the historic fabric, and successfully obtained planning and listed building consent.  Construction was completed in 2019.