July News

• When the 204 individual copper petals were all united, lit and raised to form the Cauldron at the Olympic Games 2012 opening ceremony, what a spectacle of truly fabulous design it was to behold!  All of us at KPT will be following the Olympics, and Paralympics and willing Team GB to win lots of medals.
• At the 15^th Century Hall House in Essex, scaffold has been erected.  As render has been removed, excitingly large beams and mid rail have been exposed. The removal of the cement render has revealed that the house originally had two jettied gables, which must have been underbuilt as flush gables in the Georgian/Victorian period. We’ve also discovered an old C 18^th doorway in the brickwork, with a rubbed and gauged header 
• Working drawings are being produced for the main staircase of the Court Barn.
• The restoration of Finchingfield Guildhall continues with wattle and daub being exposed: The original daub was laboratory analysed in order to ensure that the new daub will be an authentic mix.  The ingredients are clay, chalk, fine quartz sand, lime and a lot of chopped straw. This is thoroughly mixed and then thrown and smoothed by hand.
• The design stage for works to a beautiful brick and timber framed Grade II* farmhouse in North Herts are progressing well.
• Planning Permission, with Restricted Use (ie affiliated with an equestrian business), has been granted for a new-build family house in the style of a timber framed barn in Huntingdonshire.
• Glazing in the Bell Tower at Grade I Listed St. Andrew’s Church, Shalford, (to ensure free access for Soprano Pipistrelle bats to their maternity roosts http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/life/Soprano_Pipistrelle ), has gone out to tender.
• Repairs and internal layout changes at the Grade II listed farmhouse are now complete and the new oak sunroom with copper roof and timber framed utility extension has started on site.
• Designs are underway for a new-build house in the Lee Valley.
• At the Grade I Country House in Suffolk, Planning Permission and Listed Building Consent has been granted for a new breakfast room extension on the service wing with modern bi-fold doors.
• Concept design drawings for a new gabled glazed timber frame sunroom with a veranda style link to the Annexe have been completed for a Grade II, 19^th century house in Bedfordshire.
• We are thrilled to announce that KPT has been shortlisted in the AJ Retrofit 2012 Awards, Listed Buildings/Structures category, for our Spains Hall Entry.
• We are also delighted that HHA/Sotheby’s Restoration Award 2012 have awarded us a Commendation for our work to Spains Hall.  http://www.hha.org.uk/focus-on-properties/hha-sothebys-restoration-award.html
• As part of her dissertation on smock mills of Essex, Nicola will be visiting the fascinating local windmills of Upminster http://www.upminsterwindmill.co.uk and Ashdon http://www.ashdonwindmilltrust.co.uk
• The 10k Race for Life which was to be held at the Chelmsford Hylands Park on Sunday 22^nd July, 2012, has been postponed until Sunday, 16^th September.  Nicola says, with the extra training time, she expects to complete in even quicker time!  If you’re in the area, do go along and shout encouragement to her! Embarrassing photographs will now be posted in September Images of the Month!  http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/nicolahiggins365

June News

• With fond memories of the fabulous Jubilee Celebrations still ringing in our ears, we bring you our June News from the office of KPT.
• At the 15^th Century Hall House in Essex, R & J Hogg are making good progress in preparation for the long task of stripping the modern external cement render prior to re-rending.  
• The Rotunda is now almost finished, with just the final fitting out to be completed.  The positioning of the structure and the materials used have contributed greatly to the fact that this beautiful building looks as though it has been part of the landscape for a very long time.
• At the Grade II Listed former public house in Essex, the bathroom floor tile designs have not been straight forward, but they will look fabulous when in place.
• The restoration of Finchingfield Guildhall continues, and we have now opened up the entire frame, and discovered evidence of an arched head window, two more medieval window shutters and evidence of a shop door.  We will be ensuring that these interesting features are exposed.
• We have designed a Saffron Crocus motif, incorporating ventilation holes, which will be carved into the tea cupboard doors at Radwinter church.  This design compliments the theme of other existing carving already in the church.
• Asbestos removal has been completed on a Grade 1 Country House in Suffolk.  Work has now commenced on the laying of a new breathable hall floor and the installation of new electrics and plumbing.
• Refurbishment of an existing swimming pool and pool house has now been completed on time and within budget, and is now ready in time for the client to use and enjoy for the summer.
• John Izod is using traditional materials and methods to carry out lime plastering in an ashlar pattern to the Regency House.  This will add the charm and elegance this property so richly deserves.
• The Listed Property Owners Club wrote to Chancellor on 12 June, continuing the effort against the proposed 20% VAT on Listed Building Alterations.
• Our Images of the Month Photostream has been added to Flickr.  Please take a look at all our photographs.  http://www.flickr.com/photos/kpt-architects/sets/
• We are very pleased to announce that our entry of Spains Hall has been shortlisted for the Listed Buildings/Structures category of the AJ Retrofit Awards 2012.
• We have been awarded Highly Commended for a Conservation Award entry.   Announcement follows very soon!
• The awards section on our website will be up and running very shortly, and will contain details and photographs of the projects we have won awards for this year. 
• Congratulations go to Sarah Aylmer, head of our Interior Design team, for being awarded a Distinction on completion of her Postgraduate Certificate in Decorative Arts course at the University of Buckingham, (London). 
• Nicola Higgins will be running in the Chelmsford Hylands Park 10k Race for Life on Sunday 22^nd July, 2012, and says she would be grateful for supporters along the way, especially to help push her up the hilly bits!  http://www.raceforlifesponsorme.org/nicolahiggins365  Embarrassing photographs will be posted in July Images of the Month!

June - Images of the month

June - Images of the month, a set on Flickr.

Check out our new Flickr account

http://www.flickr.com/photos/kpt-architects/sets/

May - Images of the Month

May - Images of the Month, a set on Flickr.

KPT News May 2012

• At the 15^th 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 17^th Century bays, they discovered exciting ghost lines, shutter groves and mortises of five 17^th Century mullioned windows in the old school room bays. These match exactly the salvaged window that came from the 50s restoration. Interestingly the 17^th Century mullions have a different ovolo moulding to them, while the 15^th 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 15^th 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   

KPT News April 2012

April News at KPTA

• The starry night sky ceiling has been completed by Howell and Bellion at St. John the Baptist, Leytonstone, and makes a wonderful feature upon entering the church.
• The fabulous circular staircase has been fitted into the Rotunda.
• KPT and SMC were Finalists at the CEDIA 2012 Awards with our joint entry of a Home Cinema.
• The Chancellor of the Exchequer shocked us all with his announcement that VAT would be charged on alterations to Listed Buildings. This will affect all projects not completed by October, 2012.
• Chestnut lath has been competed on a Regency house.
• Bush End Church are seeing their oak cabinets going in for the new kitchen, and the oak staircase for the balcony has been inserted.
• The C15th Hall House in Uttlesford has had its oak crown post roof and rafters repaired by R J Hogg, where the rafters had pulled about from the plates, and a valley beam had to be repaired where it was rotten from water ingress. The new roofing insulation and handmade peg tiles are going back on.
• Works to a Country House in Suffolk have started on-site this month, with the removal of all the asbestos which was put in during the 1920s to lag all the plumbing pipes. We are about to start completely re-plumbing the house with Rose Builders.
• The building works at the Church of St Mary The Virgin, Radwinter started this month with Lodge and Sons Builders. This is our local village church, and one close to our heart. We are creating a new WC and Kitchenette in the Victorian Vestry. The vestry already contains some lovely cupboards by Temple Moore, the famous Victorian Architect, so we are going to compliment the simple flower carving on his cupboards with new carving details on our own panelling that will continue the floral theme perhaps with a crocus flower instead. The vestry already has some old delft tiles in the fireplace, so we are hoping to design some new hand painted delph tiles with scenes of the village. The rather less fun job of digging the drains and excavating the floor have commenced this month, but we have found an old vault outside, which was an exciting surprise!
• We reached Final Completion on the new brick indoor swimming-pool building near Dunmow. We’ll be taking photographs soon for you to see. The design complimented the adjacent Victorian stable-block with red brick and large oak and glazed doors which have heavy boarded shutter doors to the outside. We built a pitched oak glulam roof over the pool itself with a central glazed rooflight. The vaulted ceiling was then dotted with Swarovsky crystal lights, to create a spectacular night sky above.
• Finchingfield Guildhall is an immensely rewarding project on-site at the moment with Fairhurst Ward Abbott. The roof repairs have all been completed by Tony and his team with new straps where the tie beams have pulled away from the top plates, and oak slice repairs where the plate was rotten. The replacement of the 50s softwood frame with oak frame is taking shape. Most interestingly we found lots of old 15th and 17th century mullioned windows. The 15th century are of a scalloped design and the 17th century are ovolo moulded. We are reinstating all the oak mullioned windows we have physical evidence for, so the windows will reveal the different periods of build through their style and progression. They’ve also made up a sample plaster pargetting pattern which is the same as the Victorian photographs of the building we have in the archive. This will be used on the new lime plastered exterior, which replaces the cement render we removed.
• We’ve reached practical completion on the refurbished pool building, new orangery and basement cinema/games room in Chelmsford. This work was completed by Cubbitt Theobald Builders, and the new facilities to this elegant townhouse have provided the family with some really fun and enjoyable rooms, which have been designed to compliment the Georgian style of the house.
• Peter celebrated a rather special birthday at the start of this month.
• An early News Bulletin for May – KPT are very proud to announce we won the RICS East of England Awards 2012 Building Conservation for Spain Hall!