Extensive conservation works to an existing Georgian country house which is a Protected Structure of national importance to include extension and change of use into guest accommodation with a focus on community use.
The ambition is to upgrade the building for public occupation by adding a lift and stair core, upgrading fire prevention and disability access measures, renovating the tired interiors and installing new building services to increase comfort levels. This round of works will also afford the opportunity to rationalise the internal layout and undo previous modern interventions which were unsympathetic to the historic significance of the building.
A toilet block was added more recently to the rear of the building and is proposed to be replaced with a fundamentally contemporary circulation addition, comprising of a lift shaft which will enable access to all floors and a protected fire stair which will allow for an additional means of escape from the top floor.
The design of this new architectural element will be clearly of its time and readable as such. The design will take reference from it’s Georgian neighbour but play with these reference points in a contemporary manner as if having a dialogue with history.
