We are thrilled that Country Life, March 8, 2017, listed KPTA in the top 100 Architects “who have the knowledge and experience to create the rural retreat of your dreams”.
In February we have also been lucky enough to welcome Kirsty Ballantine and Adam Grant to the KPT barn studio. Both are experienced Conservation Architects and their skills and knowledge is lovely to have within the studio, and they are already hard at work on many of our historic building projects!
Below is a taster of a few of our projects:
Our recently completed project for St Michael and All Angels, Galleywood, undertaken with Lodge and Sons, has been entered for the Diocese of Chelmsford DAC Design Awards. Fingers crossed! The works included a new organ gallery and the conversion of the north transept to form multi-use rooms.
A beautiful new garage and bat loft (the first house we have designed for a bat colony!) has been completed with Godfrey and Hicks Builders. The upper floor of the attic will provide a dedicated new home for the brown long ear bats, and has been designed closely with Ecologist Duncan Painter.
Works have just commenced with Heritage Building and Conservation Builders on a lobby entrance Grade II listed house in Cambridgeshire. This includes full refurbishment, roof conversion, re-rendering and significantly improving the thermal performance of the house. At the rear, a new brick kitchen extension is being added with a bright and airy breakfast room, picking up the brick details on the existing Victorian rear range.
In South Essex, work continues on the re-building of a substantial private residence with J W Younger Builders. The original C18th core has been retained, with the historic roof scape reinstated and new attic rooms inserted. The drab 1970s exterior has been swept away, enabling the traditional form to be revealed. New exterior windows, doors, staircases and a kitchen are due to be installed shortly.
We are on-site with Rose Builders on a large Georgian, Grade II Villa house in Cambridgeshire. The basement structure and lining out is complete for the gym, cinema and games room, and the ground floor brick structure including an indoor swimming pool is nearing completion. The structure emulates a walled courtyard and has modern grey aluminium windows and doors creating a modern look against the traditional construction. This creates a lovely mixture of new and old. The joinery on the older wings is also in, with long sashes to the floors typical of Orangeries in the Georgian period. We are also doing all the interior design, and joinery is being fitted for a new pantry and cloakroom cupboard at present.
On-site in Cambridge, with R J Pinnock, we are installing a ground source heat pump for underfloor heating to a Grade II, C17th thatched cottage. The walls are all being insulated from the outside and the house is having the lime plaster reinstated. An oak frame modern extension at the rear is taking shape, and is a mixture of oak frame, aluminium windows and doors and direct glazing, creating a really interesting combination of traditional and new materials. There is a new video on our website of CEL roofing, who are a great local roofing contractor, demonstrating the new zinc roof installation!
The new Servery at Grade I listed St. Mary’s Church, Saffron Walden (the largest church in Essex!) has started on-site with Bakers of Danbury. We have visited the joiner’s workshop to go through the bespoke oak joinery, and there is a new video on our website of the oak carving, which incorporates the Saffron crocus!
The extensions to an Arts and Crafts house (originally designed by well-known Architect George Sherrin) in Essex are now complete with Rose Builders and this has provided a lovely new brick Breakfast Room.
A new brick garage building and landscaping works has started on-site in Essex with G I Hutton Builders picking up on details on the listed house.
Works are now completed on a full renovation and kitchen extension to a moated Hall house in South Cambridgeshire with Heritage Building and Conservation (builders). The project included timber frame and roof structural repairs, insulation of the frame and new lime plastering. Modern windows were replaced with traditional casements, and the interiors were completely renovated throughout. A new oak frame extension was also added to the Kitchen which over looked the walled garden and moat.
It’s church re-roof galore at the moment, following the successful Church roofing grant programme. The bats in the churches mean we have to have the works completed by spring and the start of the breeding season. We have completed the re-roof of Heydon and Leyton, and we are currently finishing at Little Baddow, Little Chishill and Hempstead. We’ve had a new stone cross carved for Little Chishill chancel gable; this was done by Abbeygate and looks fabulous!
Over at Fordham Abbey near Newmarket, the steel frame is up for the new Dojima Sake Brewery building. This is the first Japanese Sake building in the country; and is designed as a contemporary metal and timber clad highly efficient building with a feature window of the Japanese kanji for Sake.
We are also building a pottery building in the woods to showcase traditional Japanese pottery, and the brewery will have a café overlooking the historic site and brewery interior. The house itself is about to undergo some refurbishment works so that the ground floor of the Georgian house can be hired out for birthday parties, conferences and small wedding receptions.
We also have many fabulous jobs and historic extension and conversion projects in the concept and construction design stage, which you’ll hear about as they progress onto site!
