Thursday 14 June 2012

KPT News May 2012


  • At the 15th Century Hall House in Essex, the red clay peg roof tiles are on, and all the structural repairs to the crown post roof have been completed by R J Hogg. We have done the construction drawings for the house renovations, which will commence soon.
  • The kitchenette at Bush End church has now been fitted, the glass balustrade is in place, the floor tiling has been finished, and the project is edging closer to completion.
  • The Rotunda now has its spiral metal staircase with oak treads, and the mint pebbled flooring looks stunning in the shower room.
  • At the Grade II Listed former public house in Essex, the exterior is being lime plastered by John Izod, and Simon and John Iliffe are starting to fit the bathrooms and floors. KPT Interior Designer, Sarah Aylmer, is planning the interior decoration, which involves a contrast of historic patterned and contemporary wallpapers.
  • The restoration of Finchingfield Guildhall continues to offer surprises.  As Tony and his team (Fairhurst Ward Abbott) have exposed the later 17th Century bays, they discovered exciting ghost lines, shutter groves and mortises of five 17th Century mullioned windows in the old school room bays. These match exactly the salvaged window that came from the 50s restoration. Interestingly the 17th Century mullions have a different ovolo moulding to them, while the 15th Century mullions are scalloped. The oak frame has been repaired, and the split oak laths and bullnose render stops are being fixed to the outside, ready to start the lime plastering.    
  • A beautiful oak dresser, hand-made by the carpenter Charlie of R. J. Pinnock and Son has been installed in one of our new kitchen design projects.
  • Works are continuing on a 15th Century house in Suffolk with Rose Builders, with the complete removal of the asbestos lagging, put in during the 20s, and the replacement of the plumbing throughout. 
  • Radwinter Church works are on-site with Lodge and Sons Builders. They are making the oak panelled joinery for the new WC walls, which incorporates a saffron crocus motif we have designed. 
  • Kay, Sibyl, Peter and Nicola attended the “RICS 2012 East of England Awards” ceremony, and were thrilled when it was announced that KPT had won the Building Conservation category, with our entry of Spains Hall! This means we now go National!
  • We have also been awarded Highly Commended in another Conservation Award, announcement coming soon!
  • Peter hosted a fabulous garden party in celebration of his birthday.  Instead of giving Peter presents, guests gave donations to the Carver Barracks’ Injured Soldiers Fund and raised thousands for this important charity.
  • Monica attended the Green Register two day course on Sustainable Building and Services.  It has provided her with no-nonsense information regarding energy and water conservation, specifying sustainably as well as de-mystifying renewable energy sources, and when it is appropriate to use them.  She now joins Sibyl on the official Green Register, check out their website http://www.greenregister.org.uk/about.php.
  • Anthony attended a very informative sustainability course on the Responsible Resourcing of Materials, at the Smartlife Centre, Cambridge.
  • Gareth Davies, a well-known Photographer, renowned for his portfolio of celebrity photography has taken some beautiful photographs of a recently completed Swimming Pool building we designed, and which was built by Collins and Beckett. We will be uploading this onto the project page soon for you to see. Check out Gareth’s website: http://www.gdaviesphoto.com