Major Fabric Repairs – with Page/Park Architects
Background
The flat-roofed church, completed in 1972 to designs by Gillespie Kidd and Coia, is Category B-Heritage Listed.
Scope of Work
Page/Park Architect’s remit was to refurbish the roofs to the church and parish house. Original felt roof finishes were worn out, single-glazed sky lights to the church roof leaked and ran with condensation, and rainwater disposal systems and levels of insulation were inadequate.
The priority was to minimise changes to the original appearance of the church and parish house whilst making the roofs waterproof, more energy efficient and free from condensation.
Statutory Consents
Because the repairs and upgrades minimised changes to the building appearance no planning or listed building consents were required.
Funding
The Heritage Lottery Fund and Historic Scotland funded the project.
Contract value
A$800,000.
Start on site and completion
Started on site in November 2008. Completed on programme and within budget in March 2009.
Points of Special Interest
Having the original working drawings gave me a rare insight into the original detailing and allowed me to draw up proposals that were in sympathy with the original architect’s design thinking.
I had to straddle the line between maintaining the original appearance of the building whilst upgrading its fabric performance.
Funders agreed to fund the modern, single-ply equivalent to the original felt roof finish but wouldn’t fund double-glazed roof lights, as the originals were single glazed.
I took the opportunity to fix new crosses to the church that were shown on the original design drawings.
Knowledge, skills and experience gained
I gained a great knowledge into how Gillespie Kidd and Coia detailed their church buildings and had to interpret their original design intentions sympathetically whilst upgrading the fabric to meet modern standards.
