Sustainable Futures for Cherished Places of Worship
Our conservation team has contributed significantly to the conservation, protection and adaptation of internationally acclaimed places of worship. Highlights from our portfolio include the Grade I listed St George’s Church in Bloomsbury, St Lawrence’s Church in Mereworth, St George’s Church in Hanover Square and the Grade II* St. Patricks Church in Soho London.
Services provided include:
- Full civil engineering design and structural engineering
- Reordering and refurbishment
- New developments
- Stabilisation and strengthening
- Impact and structural assessments
- Forensic engineering and fire damage
- Specialised conservation techniques
We have partnered with leading architects to offer a holistic approach, combining sympathetic refurbishment with innovative design. Our team can help our clients make the right decisions such as increasing comfort and space, introducing energy-saving measures, or adding necessary modernising features, such as disabled access or traffic studies. We also help repurpose and redevelop places of worship to facilitate community gathering, charity work, cafes and events.
Award-winning
Our project, St George’s Church Bloomsbury has won numerous awards for architecture, conservation and craftsmanship including two RICS Awards for building and craftsmanship in conservation, the Georgian Group Architectural Award for restoration of a Georgian church. Our conservation experts were engaged to deliver restoration and repairs of this Nicholas Hawksmoor masterpiece, which included all internal and external stonework repairs, roof repair and recovery, the return of the undercroft to full use and an east-west reordering of the church. Our team added value by incorporating a plant room in a disused space in the tower providing an area for modern maintenance, storage and facilities.
At Quay Place, Ipswich, ‘The Churches Conservation Trust’ appointed Ayesa to renew and repair this ecclesiastical landmark. This project has won the 2018 Civic Trust AABC Conservation Award for the highest standards of conservation and outstanding contribution to the quality and appearance of the built environment. Phase one involved repairs to the extensively decayed hammer-beam roof and flint-faced rubble stone walls. Phase two included sympathetic structural works allowing the removal of the concrete buttresses and the insertion of a steel-framed mezzanine which was to be used for community purposes.
Adding value and innovation with honed expertise
We take pride in making that difference to projects - such as our work on Ettington Park Chapel in Warwickshire, a 13th century, Grade I ruin. Our final solution stabilised the structure, reduced risks and added visually to its appearance, which will improve over time. A significantly out of vertical wall represented a significant risk to the 800-year old structure. Working with the architect, our conservation team proposed a remotely placed pad and a raking strut in Corten steel which would seamlessly blend in with the adjacent trees and foliage. This unusual treatment was inspired by viewing successful installations of Corten steel in historic structures throughout Italy and the brilliant tree walkway in Kew Gardens by Marks Barfield Architects.
Our work on these prestigious religious buildings throughout the UK ensures a sustainable future for places of worship and the communities they serve.
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