What do you do with a listed outbuilding in need of major repair and renovations? Our clients in Greenwich had an outbuilding in their garden that they needed to put to more valuable use to justify the expense. The outbuilding predated the house and was a chapel and mausoleum for officers of the navy at the old Greenwich Hospital. Built under the direction of Sir Nicholas Hawksmoore in 1714 in the hospital’s first burial ground next to Royal Greenwich Park, this represented a unique challenge.
The architecture of the chapel of rest is a well proportioned and robustly constructed brick structure over an arched brick vault crypt. The slightly morbid heritage of the site revealed that it was quickly filled and the hospital acquired further burial grounds and later built over this ground with a children’s asylum, which was later converted into houses.
The chapel appears to have been forgotten about and became an obscure outbuilding in a back garden. Subsequent attempts to convert it to a more domestic use had been piecemeal and caused various problems and harm. The officers were taken from the vaults by the Admiralty in the 1990s.
E2 came up with a scheme to convert the chapel to a residential annex with a small mezzanine, comfortable for the family to enjoy as extended living and recreation space.
In addition to this damp problems will be dealt with and the crypt is to be made suitable for storage to enable the garden to the rear of the chapel to be tidied and become a sun-trap courtyard. An additional outbuilding will house a new purpose built pottery.
"The house is also cleverly designed to meet all our needs as a family home. We are delighted with E2’s services and would highly recommend them."
"Using their expertise and knowledge E2 have guided us through the lengthy planning process enabling us to gain permission to build a brilliant modern house on a very restricted site, which is also cleverly designed to meet all our needs as a family home. We are delighted with E2’s services and would highly recommend them."
Eavan Collins
Client, Heathway
An essential part of the brief was to provide space for the pottery. This activity is incompatible with the historic structure and the family use of the space. The addition of a new structure in the setting of the heritage structures surrounding is a major challenge.
Careful research into the history and evolution of the site revealed opportunities for sensitive enhancements to the setting that will balance the less than substantial harm presented by the new outbuilding. The impact of the outbuilding will be reduced by design of location, scale and high quality ceramic finish chosen to contrast and be secondary to the listed buildings.
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Sam Cooper
Director
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