Repair and re-roofing of Edwardian Boarding House

• Posted by Karyn Middleton on 30th Jul ’07 at 09:03 BST
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The Cheltenham Ladies College is an independent school of world renown, accommodating more than 850 pupils. The College has a large property portfolio in the heart of Regency Cheltenham, much of which is of historic and architectural significance, both locally and nationally.

Introduction

Glenlee House is an Edwardian Boarding House, constructed by the College in 1901 by the architect Waller, in the Neo-Gothic style. The College utilises Glenlee House as a junior Boarding House for around 75 pupils.

The front elevation in particular incorporates a number of items of ornate stonework such as stone copings, corbels and balusters.

Since its construction the facade had gradually become discoloured and this particularly affected the stonework, which in itself had eroded in many areas causing significant deterioration of the stone detailing. Equally the roof covering was unsightly and many of the slates had delaminated and deteriorated.

The property is locally listed under Cheltenham Borough Council′s Local Listing Scheme.

The Brief

Evans Jones was appointed to design and implement a repair and restoration project to restore the front and also the side and rear elevations to their former glory. As part of these works Evans Jones was also charged with re-covering the pitched roofs.

The Challenge

Given the positioning of much of the stonework it was difficult to establish the extent of necessary repairs and thus the production of an accurate specification leading to an accurate price was a challenge.

To overcome this Evans Jones commissioned a survey using both scaffold and cherry picker access to produce a detailed schedule of stonework repairs. This was prepared by the Evans Jones team of specialist Building Surveyors who are well versed in stone repairs, having worked for many years in the Regency Spa town of Cheltenham. Indeed, one of Evans Jones Surveyors is a former Stonemason and was able to offer both detailed diagnosis and practical repair methods when dealing with stonework.

The next major challenge was the programming of the works as the College was both unwilling to loose valuable boarding space and unable to allow works to continue whilst the Boarding House was in use for reasons of both privacy and security. To overcome this the work was split into phases with the very ornate front facade and frontal section of the roof being completed over one summer holiday, the remainder of the rear elevation and roof being completed the following year, with other more isolated elements being completed over the Easter and Christmas holidays.

As the timescale itself was challenging the decision was made to negotiate with a contractor who assisted Evans Jones in working towards a practical and realistic programme. Evans Jones provided full design, building surveying and contract administration services throughout the project seeing it successfully through from inception to completion within the specified timeframe.

Benefits Achieved

Works were completed on time with no disruption whatsoever to operation of the Boarding House, either in terms of programme or damage to internal structure and finishes. The works resulted in a much improved external appearance to the front facade in particular, of what is still an impressive building.