Three 15th Century cottages and an adjoining barn have been dramatically brought back to life in a £2.1m multi-award winning refurbishment Project near Newmarket, Suffolk in the east of England. SKM Anthony Hunts carried out the structural engineering for the Wakelins Project, with architects James Gorst.
The removal of the cracked and dilapidated cement render revealed that approximately 40% of the timber framing was beyond repair. The barn and main house were stripped back to the bare bones and extensive repairs had to be carried out on the very shallow footings. Damaged timbers were replaced with European Oak, which was traditionally peg jointed. The walls and roof were rebuilt using breathable materials such as sheep’s wool insulation and lime render.
Repairs to the brick plinths and chimneys were undertaken with special hand made bricks, bedded in a lime mortar. The modern softwood timber framed extension was prefabricated and brought to site in large sections that were erected in five days. Reinforced concrete foundations and a ground slab support the new timber frame, which is remote from the original and accessed via an articulating two-storey corridor. Externally the building is clad in European Oak boarding.
The Project has won a Royal Institute of Building Architects (RIBA) Award, along with the “Private Category” of the highly coveted Wood Awards, which recognise and encourage outstanding design, craftmanship and installation in joinery and structures in wood.
The involvement of SKM Anthony Hunts in the Wakelins Project brings the following benefits to your project: