From a dilapidated muck shed to a green oak winter garden wonder.
Taking prime position in the heart of a courtyard, this former muckshed was in need of repair. There had obviously been great care taken in its original construction, arrow straight granite walls and a hipped roof at both ends, it definitely wasn't a ramshackle operation.
The architect owners came up with a wonderful way to re-purpose the building whilst maintaining all that made it so charming in the first place.
Out with the old (mostly)
The old roof was to be stripped and all the long rotten rafters had to go. Rather than simply replace the existing roof a far better idea was conceived. It was to be converted into a greenhouse and provide a loving winter home for a bunch of rather lucky succulents.
We first replaced the original tired lintels and then set about saving as much of the original trusses as possible. You definitely have to 'work with' old structures such as this, they generally don't like to be bullied about too much. With that approach in mind we began re-setting the purlins to get the pitches of the roof inline. Next a green oak 'top hat' was cut in place. The oak rafters have poly-carbonate glazing sandwiched in between the timbers. This method securely holds the glazing but also allows for the seasonal movement of both materials.
With the roof taken care of all that was left was to make up the oak sliding doors to close in the building. We made up the 8 doors in the workshop and then fitted them to a sliding track system concealed from the outside. Some fresh re-pointing from the guys at Rothwell Historical Restoration and the building was complete.
At night the greenhouse glows and is now a wonderful space not only for succulents but for anyone lucky enough to spend some time here.