September News

Once again, weddings are the theme of the office this month, with Kay and Peter celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Nicola received a marriage proposal from long-term boyfriend, Tom, whilst on an amazing holiday-of-a-lifetime to America and Canada, and, after due consideration lasting all of ten seconds, she returned wearing a beautiful opal engagement ring!
Back at work, here are some of the things we have been working on throughout September.

• We have submitted an application for Full Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent for the refurbishment and extension of two timber-framed, Grade II Listed, C.17th agricultural workers’ cottages in Essex. The house will be reinstated as two cottages again and will be used for lived in by employees at the same Country Estate the cottages were original built for. Interestingly we found the whole house had been raised in the 19th Century to make a full height first floor.  
• Lodge & Sons (conservation builders) are on-site at Radwinter Village Hall (designed originally by Nesfield), finishing off the last of the roof works.
• We have started a Feasibility study for welcome facilities, additional office space, WC and tea making facilities at St Mary The Virgin, Saffron Walden, which is the largest Church in Essex and is Grade I listed. The Chancel and Crypt date back to the 13^th Century.  The main church dates to circa 1430 and was built by Master Mason John Wastell, who also did Kings College Chapel. The upper stage of the tower and spire were constructed in 1831 by Rickman and Hitchinson.
• Concept Designs for the restoration and extension of a C.17th Grade II listed farmhouse in Cambridgeshire have been submitted to the Local Authority for pre-application advice.  The house will be repaired, thermally upgraded and extended to form a new Orangery.  With elegant sash windows, tall French doors and vaulted ceilings, the Orangery will provide a beautiful addition to an already desirable home.
• At a mid C.18th, Grade II listed Georgian residence in Cambridgeshire, with Victorian and Edwardian wings, we have prepared Concept Designs for the addition of a new garden room with a glass lantern above.  The under-used attic space will be converted and new bathrooms introduced.  The remainder of the house will be renovated throughout and enhanced to deliver modern standards of comfort and performance. 
• Working closely with St Michael and All Angels’ Church, Galleywood, we are developing construction details for a new Youth Room in the North Transept, with a new carved oak and contemporary glass partition to the arched openings.  We are also designing a balcony for the relocation of the organ to the rear of the church tower.  
• The C.16th Hall House in Essex is looking astounding.  We are coming to completion, just now awaiting delivery of the glass balustrading, which will finish off the North Wing of this fabulous project. 
• Concept Interior Design sketches for the transformation of rooms at an 19th Century house in Essex are now in the process of being prepared as Working Drawings for the new joinery, electrics and finishes, which will be sent to the builder for pricing.  
• For a late C16th Farm/Hall house  in Braintree, we have submitted applications for Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent, and are now awaiting approval for works to include a charming structurally glazed link connecting the Victorian Kitchen building to the old washhouse, which still has its original copper chimney and outside loo! There are internal alterations and a second storey extension to increase the size of the bathroom. 
• We are in full swing finishing off the Schedule of Works and Construction Drawings for the new Garden Room and accessible bedroom at the House of Retreat, Pleshey for the Diocese of Chelmsford. 
• Finchingfield Guildhall reached practical completion, Building Control has signed off and the building is now open for visitors throughout the week.  If you are in the area, do go along and take a look. 
• We are exploring ideas with the Conservation Officer and planner over a new outdoor swimming pool building next to a Grade II listed Arts and Crafts house in Essex. 
• We are currently completing the Concept Design for alterations and an extension to a Grade II listed, C16th jettied farmhouse in Essex. The house has later wings on the rear. We are removing a flats roofed element in the centre and re-connecting these wings with structurally glazed and pitched gables, which will allow spectacular views of the old chimney stack at the rear of the house.  
• We have reached practical completion and are in the rectification period for the Morning Room extension and house renovation works to a Grade I listed C15th gatehoused, large country home in Suffolk.  
• We are just about to reach final completion for the roof works at Little Baddow Church.
• We have just started the Schedule of Works for a wonderful little church in Ovington, which needs re-roofing. This has to be one of the prettiest churches we have worked with, and is well worth a visit. 
• Downham and Manser Builders are on-site at the Grade II listed Almhouses in Radwinter, doing some repair works and incorporating new flush back doors, in keeping with the Arts and Craft style of these attractive cottages. 
• The Photographer, Michael Cameron has taken some brilliant photos of the little round oak and thatched building we designed. 
• We are busy producing the five Planning and listed Building Consent applications that are needed for a farm in Essex. The works include conversion of an C18^th Aisle Barn to a Workshop, adaptations to a 15^th Century crown-posted Granary Barn to ancillary accommodation, removing some of the blockwork outbuildings and reinstating the pitched roofs on the older Byre buildings and finally Internal alterations to the C16^th Hall House. 
• The tenders have been returned by the three Building Contractors for renovation works to a Georgian Vicarage; a local Quantity Surveyor is reviewing them and next month the works will start on-site.